Newcastle

Chelsea secure a win

German striker Timo Werner finally ended his three-month long goal drought in the league, scoring the second of the game from a corner.

Meanwhile high-flying West Ham continued their impressive run of form with a 3-0 win over last-placed Sheffield United, taking the Hammers into fifth-place in the table.

Chelsea and West Ham have both jumped above Liverpool, who've slipped to sixth.

The reigning champions are now 13 points behind league leaders Manchester City, who have a game in hand

     

Newcastle 0 Man City 1

Raheem Sterling's 13th league goal of the season secured the result for Pep Guardiola's side and sent them 15 points clear of Manchester United at the top.

The only negative for the visitors was the loss of captain Vincent Kompany to injury early in the first half, the centre-back going off with a suspected calf problem.

The slender scoreline belied what was one of City's most comfortable victories of an astounding campaign, with Newcastle offering almost no resistance despite having lost their previous four league matches at home.

Takulua hat-trick helped Newcastle to victory

Trailing 24-15 at the break, Newcastle scored four tries in 18 second-half minutes to turn the game around.

Scrum-half Takulua crossed the line three times and also added another nine points with his boot off the tee.

Northampton, who earned a bonus point of their own with four tries, was undone by a series of defensive and handling errors in the second half.

A second successive home win for Newcastle lifts them above Northampton to seventh and just a point behind sixth-placed Harlequins.

Penrith Panthers beat Newcastle 42-6 for Knights' 15th-straight NRL loss

After an uninspiring first half at Hunter Stadium on Sunday, the Panthers and the Knights were locked at 6-6 at the break.

But Penrith dominated the second stanza, leaving the Knights to extend their club record losing streak to 15 games.

It also puts Newcastle into the top 10 on the all-time longest losing streak list.

The Knights enjoyed 60 per cent of the possession in the first half, but despite repeated opportunities they could not crack the Panthers' line.

Newcastle suffer blow as Tonga captain Nili Latu is ruled out for up to five months

Back-row forward Latu, who skippered Tonga at last year's World Cup, has undergone knee surgery, the Falcons announced.

Latu, 34, was hurt during Tonga's Pacific Nations Cup campaign last month.

Brown's plan for the run home

The Knights have a bye in Round 15, and with class players Peter and Chanel Mata'utia, Robbie Rochow, Jacob Saifiti and Korbin Sims all expected to be available for their Round 16 match against the Dragons, Brown says he will set targets once reinforcements return.

"We will tough through next week where we will have the Warriors at home," Brown said post-game.

"The boys will have a fair week of recovery this week and we'd like to put in a good one at home. All our performances at home have been really good apart from the Cronulla one.

Hayne attracting attention from numerous NRL clubs

Hayne quit the NFL on Monday in a bid to play rugby union sevens at the Rio Olympics later this year.

Speculation is rife he will return to rugby league next year, after leaving in 2014 to pursue his American dream.

Sydney Roosters, who are around $600,000 under this year's salary cap - money that could be used a sign-on fee for Hayne - remain the favourites to snare the former Parramatta superstar.