MATCH REPORT: Millers well beaten at Newcastle

A crowd of more than 52,000 saw Paul Warne’s injury-hit side turn in a strong first-half showing before going down 4-0, with three of those strikes coming in the second period.

Goalkeeper Richard O’Donnell came in for a quickfire debut in place of Lewis Price, who had to withdraw for family reasons, and was well protected in the first period by a side missing top scorer Danny Ward and also Joe Newell,  injured in the warm-up.

Ayoze Perez sprayed over when clean through and there were only fleeting glimpses of goal for the Millers before they had what looked like a surefire  penalty claim waved away on 38 minutes. Anthony Forde robbed goalkeeper Karl Darlow and was clipped by the stopper. Play went on and Darlow atoned with a good save from Jerry Yates.

After Jonjo Shelvey went close with a shot on the turn, the hosts made the most of the let-off in first-half stoppage time when Daryl Murphy fired in on the turn.

Rotherham felt aggrieved and their slow start to the second half was soon punished. O’Donnell could only get  a hand to Yoan Gouffran’s shot and Matt Ritchie was on hand to tap in the loose ball.

Aimen Belaid, back in the side for the injured Kirk Broadfoot, brought a good save from Darlow but it was as good as game over on 69 minutes when Perez headed Newcastle’s third from close range.

The home side moved through the gears after that and with the Millers struggling to cope with their attacking quality, Ritchie ran through to slip home his second of the day to complete a predictable outcome.

Newcastle: Darlow, Clark, Dummett, Lascelles, Perez, Shelvey, Hayden, Yedlin, Gouffran (Ameobi 64), Richie,  Murphy

Millers: O’Donnell, Fisher, Mattock, Belaid, Wood, Forde (Kelly 87), Adeyemi, Smallwood, Vaulks, Taylor (Allan 74), Yates (Ward 61)

Referee: Jeremy Simpson

Attendance: 52,208