Osula and Barnes strike early in second half as Newcastle win at Palace
Two goals in 11 minutes after the interval gave Newcastle a 2-0 win at Selhurst Park, their first win at Palace in the four most recent meetings there.
By Harvey Watkins,
Newcastle won 2-0 at Selhurst Park on Sunday afternoon, and the match turned in the 13 minutes after half-time. William Osula scored in the 47th minute and Harvey Barnes added a second in the 58th. Crystal Palace did not find a reply.
A goalless first half, then two goals in 11 minutes
The sides went in level at the break, and nothing in the first 45 minutes separated them on the scoreboard. That changed almost as soon as play resumed. Osula struck two minutes into the second half, and Barnes doubled the lead 11 minutes later.
Palace therefore trailed by two with more than half an hour still to play. The score did not move again. For a home side, losing a level game in such a short spell is a hard way to lose. The goals came before Palace had a chance to settle into the second half, and they never got back into the contest.
A change in the pattern at Selhurst
The result stands out most against what has happened at this ground recently. Newcastle's three previous visits to Selhurst Park had brought a 2-0 defeat in April 2024, a 1-1 draw in November 2024 and a 2-1 defeat in April 2026. This was their first win at Palace in four attempts.
It also continued a pattern in the fixture as a whole. Before April's 2-1 Palace win, Newcastle had won the two previous meetings without conceding: 5-0 in April 2025 and 2-0 in January 2026, both at home. Sunday's clean sheet means Palace have now failed to score in three of the four most recent meetings between the clubs.
How the recent meetings now read
- 25 Oct 2026: Crystal Palace 0-2 Newcastle
- 12 Apr 2026: Crystal Palace 2-1 Newcastle
- 4 Jan 2026: Newcastle 2-0 Crystal Palace
- 16 Apr 2025: Newcastle 5-0 Crystal Palace
- 30 Nov 2024: Crystal Palace 1-1 Newcastle
- 24 Apr 2024: Crystal Palace 2-0 Newcastle
Across those six games Newcastle have three wins, Palace two, and one was drawn. Newcastle have scored 11 goals to Palace's five, although the 5-0 in April 2025 accounts for a large share of that gap.
What it does and does not tell us
This was matchday 8, and one result this early is a small sample. It would be a stretch to read much about either side's season from a single afternoon. The head-to-head record also warns against drawing firm lines. It has swung back and forth over the last two and a half years, with home advantage counting for a lot until Sunday.
What can be said is that Newcastle won this match with two quick goals at the start of the second half, and that Palace, who had made Selhurst Park a difficult place for Newcastle to visit, could not respond. The next meeting will show whether that was a one-off or a sign the balance in this fixture is shifting.