Halftime: Newcastle United 1, Reading 0

Newcastle United find themselves on top of Reading 1-0 at halftime, thanks to a 20 yard beauty of a free kick from Yohan Cabaye in the 35th minute. It's a just scoreline based on the run of play so far, though Reading have certainly had a couple of chances that should have found the back of the Magpies' net.

Royals goalkeeper Adam Federici has been brilliant all afternoon, denying chance after chance from Papiss Cisse, but Cabaye stepped up and slotted the close range shot into the left corner. Newcastle find themselves on the front foot despite a head-scratching formation from Alan Pardew, who has deployed Shola Ameobi on the right wing for some reason. Shola has been unable to find himself on the right side, and as a result much of the Newcastle attack has flowed through Jonas Gutierrez, Sylvain Marveaux, and Davide Santon on the left.

Reports surfaced just before kick-off that Newcastle had agreed a fee with Ligue 1 side Montpelier over defender and long-time target Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa. We'll have full coverage of the proposed transaction after the match. In the meantime, check out the profile we posted this summer of Yanga-Mbiwa.