4 things I liked (and 1 I didn’t) from Newcastle 3-0 Benfica

But once the lads had taken control of the match, there was some beautiful football played which resulted in goals for Anthony Gordon and a brace for Harvey Barnes.

Here are 4 things I liked (and 1 I didn’t) from the game:

Liked: Big Nick’s skilful and silky link-up play

I don’t think there’s a single Newcastle fan who realised what we bought in the transfer market this summer when we signed Nick Woltemade. When the Bundesliga is on TV, it rarely focuses on teams like Stuttgart, and beyond this summer’s U21 Euros, many probably won’t have seen much of Big Nick.

Throw in all the noise around his move, who he was coming into replace, and the injury to Yoane Wissa, and it could’ve been a disaster; instead, the lad has settled into life at United with the suave confidence of Sean Connery’s Bond.

There isn’t a player whose appearance matches his football less; some call him analogous to Peter Crouch, but he’s more skilful than that. He’s quicker, he “can’t head the ball,” but he scores headed goals, and his link-up play ranges from pure filth to pure silk, equally so for his finishing.

Replacing Isak was always going to be a challenge, but so far, Big Nick has shown he is more than up for conquering the challenge.

Liked: Wingers step up

In the many group chats across the world, United fans have been calling for the wingers to step up and last night all four came to the party (in some small way for one)… finally.

It’s been a weird season for Anthony Gordon, average to poor in the league but electric in Europe, and he was breathtaking at times yesterday. Often taking on and beating his fullback to get a cross in or take a shot, he showed pace and drive, and he did for the entirety of the 85 minutes he was on. His run from deep beyond António Silva for his goal showed desire/excellent reading of the game and he deserved his man of the match gong.

Jacob Murphy continues to be an incredibly effective (and frustrating) footballer. He grabbed another assist for his repertoire, took solid efforts on goal (although he twice ignored a better-placed Trippier on the overlap), and continues his excellent statistic output even if the stuff in-between (pass completion, positioning) sometimes falls a little flat.

Harvey Barnes continues to be a better player from the bench than he does from the start and hopefully someone in the coaching staff can get the lad to accept this. He revels against tiring full backs who just can’t deal with his combination of pace and finishing ability.

Anthony Elanga even put in a couple of excellent corners in his short appearance which Botman nearly got on the end of, but he obviously needs to do more in the long run. But, overall, it was an excellent night for United’s other forward players.

Didn’t like: Slowish start

Despite the empathic nature of the final result, there were a couple of hairy moments for United early on with Dodi Lukebakio forcing a big save from Nick Pope at his near post, and the former Watford player striking the outside of the post just a few minutes later with a shot from just outside the box.

Benfica will probably be stewing over those efforts as if one of them had gone in; it would’ve given them a platform to “Mourinho” their way to a defensive masterclass. Instead, they were left to rue what might have been, but United started slowly, and for all the euphoria following the match, there are still kinks to iron out in the side defensively and a complete 90-minute performance continues to elude this season.

Liked: A Nick Pope assist!!!

Nick Pope not only made that big save early on (see above) but grabbed only the second assist from an English goalkeeper in the Champions League’s history with a 65-yard throw. It seems a little weird that in a game called football you can get an assist with a throw-out, but it was an exceptional piece of play and vision from Pope to spot Barnes’ clinical run.

It was a vital second goal too to settle the crowd’s nerves, and after Pope was pilloried for the throw-out that went wrong against Arsenal, it was very satisfying to see this one come off. It was also wholesome to see his defensive colleagues all run to him and hug during the celebrations, which showed that there continues to be a level of camaraderie throughout the squad.

I still believe a time will come when United need to evolve beyond Nick Pope, but if he can do the same with his throws as other ‘keepers do with their feet (as Eddie alluded to in his post-match presser), then the lad will continue playing for this side, and make me eat those words, which I would be happy to do.

Liked: Refreshed midfield three

Perhaps the most pleasing thing about the result was that it was achieved without one of our standout performers, Sandro Tonali. The Italian’s illness gave an opportunity to Lewis Miley in the deeper six role, and the 19-year-old took his chance.

Miley had 49 touches; progressed the ball 99 yards, had a 90% pass completion rate, won two out of two tackles, made two interceptions, and won all of his aerial duels. The kid was immense and has surely given his manager something to think about for Fulham on Saturday.

Jacob Ramsey put in an excellent hour too. The former Villa man is just returning from injury, but he completed 94.7% of his passes, had two shot-creating actions, made two interceptions, and made penetrative runs beyond Woltemade, which is exactly what the side needs with a deep-lying forward.

Bruno was excellent too, but personally I feel the key to the midfield’s success was its ability to retain possession, in all situations, which is highlighted by the high pass completion rate. Miley and Ramsey barely misplaced a pass all night, which allowed United to maintain pressure, get out of tight situations, and do a little of what Barcelona did to us against Benfica.

A great result and a great European night on Tyneside, roll on Saturday.

HWTL