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Oldham Athletic 2 Newcastle United 1
Written by Newcastle Utd
Siem de Jong netted on his Newcastle United bow, but the Magpies suffered a 2-1 friendly defeat at Oldham
By Anthony Marshall - Newcastle United Managing Editor
Oldham Athletic 2 (Dieng 69, Gros 77)
Newcastle United 1 (De Jong 13)
Siem de Jong netted on his Newcastle United bow, but the Magpies suffered a 2-1 pre-season friendly defeat at Oldham Athletic on Tuesday night.
Dutch international de Jong gave United a 13th-minute lead from distance, only for substitutes Timothy Dieng and Willy Gros to net second half goals for the Latics, which earned the hosts the plaudits at the Sportsdirect.com Park.
De Jong - wearing the captain's armband - was making his first appearance in a Newcastle shirt since a summer switch from Ajax, while there were also maiden outings for fellow new recruits Jack Colback and Ayoze Perez - the latter from the substitutes' bench.
After a quiet opening period, United broke the deadlock in stunning fashion through de Jong.
Having struck a 25-yard free-kick into the wall, the loose ball fell kindly to the attacking midfielder, who hammered an unstoppable right-footed shot past Latics keeper Paul Rachubka.
De Jong almost doubled his own, and Newcastle's, tally on 22 minutes following good build-up play from young pair Adam Armstrong and Rolando Aarons down the right flank.
However, the Dutchman was unable to find the target.
Oldham grew into the contest as the half wore on, with Jonathan Forte posing a threat up front, and the nomadic striker headed wide just past the half hour mark, while visiting centre-back Steven Taylor made a well-timed block to deny Mike Jones.
Forte was proving a handful for the Newcastle defence and only a good save from goalkeeper Jak Alnwick early in the second half prevented him from levelling things up.
The former Southampton, Sheffield United and Scunthorpe man burst clear down the left but Alnwick saved well with his legs and the ball looped up over the bar to safety.
As is common with pre-season friendlies, a raft of second half substitutions disrupted the flow of the game somewhat, but replacements Sammy Ameobi and Haris Vuckic both threatened a second goal for United.
However, it was the Latics who found the back of the net next, in the 69th minute, with substitute Timothy Dieng headign home at the far post from a right-wing corner to equalise for the League One outfit.
And just eight minutes later Oldham were ahead.
Willy Gros had offered a warning shot, stabbing wide at the near post under pressure from Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, but just a minute later he made no mistake, firing under the body of Alnwick.
Newcastle were unable to offer a serious response in the closing stages, as Alan Pardew's side suffered defeat on their travels.
Newcastle United (4-2-3-1): Jak Alnwick; Vurnon Anita (Lubo Satka 55), Steven Taylor (Remie Streete 63), Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, Paul Dummett (Gael Bigirimana 70); Mehdi Abeid, Jack Colback; Yoan Gouffran (Sammy Ameobi 46), Siem De Jong (c) (Haris Vuckic 63), Rolando Aarons (Massadio Haidara 63); Adam Armstrong (Ayoze Perez 55)
Sub not used: Freddie Woodman
Attendance: 2,919