Swansea vulnerable with zonal marking, says Newcastle match-winner Lascelles

Newcastle United captain Jamaal Lascelles identified Swansea City’s zonal marking as a weakness before heading the winner in Sunday’s clash at the Liberty Stadium.

Lascelles climbed over Swans defender Alfie Mawson to nod the only goal in the 76th minute, giving the Magpies their second straight Premier League victory.

It was the second time in as many home matches that Swansea conceded from a corner, with Lascelles joining Manchester United’s Eric Bailly in punishing Paul Clement’s set-piece approach.

The 23-year-old admitted after the match that he was “not a fan” of zonal marking and expected to get opportunities.

“I said it before the game: they mark zonally and ideally I prefer to go against that,” Lascelles told Sky Sports.

“With Matt Ritchie’s delivery, it is on a plate every time. It was just down to me to put it in the back of the net and this game I did.”

 @NUFC goalscorer @Lascelles16:

“It was a great team performance. We’ve set the standard and we need to keep it up”#SWANEW pic.twitter.com/e6u8ViUGj3

— Premier League (@premierleague) September 10, 2017

Newcastle’s victory was achieved without manager Rafa Benitez as the Spaniard continues to recuperate from hernia surgery.

Assistant Francisco de Miguel Moreno revealed Benitez had been in regular contact throughout the match and even investigated the possibility of attending via helicopter.

“He wanted to come and wanted to do everything he could to attend but the weather conditions were not the best,” Moreno told the BBC.

“He kept in touch with us throughout the game.

“After the game, Rafa rang us and congratulated all the team because they did a fantastic job. He said we are now under way.”