My Newcastle United Player Ratings vs Stoke City (A)

Player Ratings

Tim Krul (7.5) - Was put under a lot of pressure but handled everything well. Came out to punch some balls, claimed a few corners and stood up to the challenges put to him.

Danny Simpson (7.5) - A performance with lots of passion and commitment from the rightback. Prevented Etherington from putting many balls into the box.

Steven Taylor (8) - Considering he was playing with a mask after his broken nose, he came through the game with flying colours. A really courageous performance.

Fabricio Coloccini (8.5) - Kept Crouch quiet and led from the front. Assured and intelligent defending from our captain for virtually the entire game.

Ryan Taylor (8) - Dealt with the the threat of Pennant and did not allow him to provide any sort of cross which could harm our defence. He also took some blows but carried on which is a sign of the spirit within the team.

Gabriel Obertan (7.5) - Provided Ba with a cross of a true quality in the opener and always looked dangerous, particularly in the first half. Wasn't in the game as much in the second half but a promising performance from our speedy winger.

Yohan Cabaye (7) - Put himself about without really stealing any headlines. Did play some good long balls for Ba and Obertan to run onto, which Stoke at times were unable to handle.

Danny Guthrie (8) - For someone who was starting his first Premier League game of the season he was quite impressive. Kept the ball nicely and won some tackles in midfield. I'd tie him down to a new contract as he seems willing and able to come into our central midfield if needed.

Jonas Gutierrez (8) - The amount of defensive work Jonas did yesterday was unbelievable. He helped Ryan Taylor quite a bit and played a big part in our win last night, without really attacking that much.

Leon Best (7.5) - Caused Stoke quite a bit of trouble and its no wonder as he was involved in the build up to all three of our goals. Just needs to find the net himself now as that's the only thing lacking.

Demba Ba (9.5) - There's not much I need to say about his performance last night. The performance spoke for itself. What I will say though is he silenced the Britannia Stadium with clinical finishing and he always looked a threat. Deserved the hat trick and the match ball which came with it.

Substitutes
James Perch (6) - Made one decent tackle but otherwise I really did not see the need to give him game time ahead of Santon.

Dan Gosling (N/A) - Don't think he touched the ball in the few minutes he was on for.

Sammy Ameobi (N/A) - Only had a few touches in his brief cameo.

Newcastle United Man of the Match - Demba Ba