Pardew's Praise For Second Half Show

By Anthony Marshall - Newcastle United Managing Editor

Alan Pardew was full of praise for Newcastle United's second half performance as they put nine-man Stoke City to the sword in a 5-1 Boxing Day triumph.

The Magpies fell behind to Oussama Assaidi's fine opener but Stoke then saw Glenn Whelan and Marc Wilson dismissed - along with manager Mark Hughes.

And United took full advantage. Loic Remy levelled before the break, and then the hosts ran riot after the restart with Yoan Gouffran, Remy, Yohan Cabaye and Papiss Cisse all finding the back of the net.

After the final whistle, Pardew was delighted with his side's mentality to see off their depleted opponents.

"For the first 35 minutes we didn't look like ourselves, we were a little bit off the pace and Stoke looked sharper and better than us," he told nufcTV.

"They had a sending off which was a little soft, but in my opinion the second challenge is a bookable offence and when you are on a booking you cannot make a challenge like that.

"He goes off and then the game is ours. We really grasped it with both hands. They got another one sent off, we missed the penalty and still score five.

"It was a fantastic second half from us. We didn't over-elaborate, we didn't try and walk it in to the net.

"There were crosses coming in, we were dribbling at people - we really mixed it up, and were everything you would want from an attacking force in that second half."

The boss was particularly pleased to see two of his front men on the scoresheet. Cisse's 80th minute penalty was his first league goal of the season, while Remy ended a run of five games without finding the back of the net.

"Strikers need to score, and the only disappointment from the afternoon would be that Shola didn't get his goal," said Pardew.

"But they were big goals for those two players."

To watch Alan Pardew's full nufcTV post-match interview, click here.