Newcastle United eased past Schalke with a 3-1 pre-season friendly win at the Veltins-Arena thanks to goals from Emmanuel Riviere, Rolando Aarons and Remy Cabella.

Alan Pardew’s men came into the Schalke Cup tie on the back of a 3-1 defeat to Malaga the previous day, and they opened the scoring on 18 minutes when Riviere rose to meet Aarons’ cross with a towering header.

Vurnon Anita was called into defensive action at the opposite end as he blocked Joel Matip’s header, but Newcastle took a slender lead into the break

Aarons, an 18-year-old academy product, then doubled  his side’s lead just after half-time with his first goal for the club, beating the defender before seeing his cross fly into the net.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Facundo Ferreyra, who’s season-long loan from Shakhtar Donetsk was only confirmed on the morning of the game, made his first appearance in a Newcastle shirt when he replaced Riviere, while fellow summer signing Remy Cabella came on for Yoan Gouffran.

The two substitutes then combined for Newcastle’s third of the evening as Cabella bagged his first goal since joining from Montpellier with a calm finish following good work from Ferreyra.

The hosts pulled one back with the last kick of the game as Donis Avdijaj was able to beat substitute goalkeeper Rob Elliot, but it did little to tarnish a promising showing from Newcastle.

Pardew’s side will now return to England, where friendlies against Huddersfield and Real Sociedad await before their Premier League opener at home to Manchester City on August 17.