It was an accomplished performance and brilliant result at St James’ Park last night, as we saw off an in-form PSV side with minimal fuss.
Yoane Wissa, Anthony Gordon and Harvey Barnes were all in the goals, securing a 3-0 win to send us up to 7th in the Champions League league phase.
Here are our marks out of 10 and comments on each Mag involved:
Nick Pope (7) – Barely tested, but did what he had to do with one routine save, some good claims and quick releases to set up breaks. That’s now four clean sheets in his six UCL starts this term.
Kieran Trippier (7) – A few loose touches, but generally a calming presence on the ball and put a few good crosses into the box. Lovely touch handing the armband to Miley late on.
Malick Thiaw (7.5) – A commanding display. Aggressive and won his duels, pushing high up the pitch at times. Steady as a rock and reliable in possession.
Sven Botman (8) – A towering presence and looked back to his best. Strong in the air, calm on the ground and read the play well. An assured display to make it back-to-bac clean sheets.
Lewis Hall (8) – Sharp defensively, more brilliant dribbling to wriggle his way into dangerous positions and linked the play well down that left side. Class act.
Bruno Guimaraes (6) – Key role early on to pounce on a loose ball and release Joelinton for Wissa’s opener, but was then booked for a dangerous tackle and couldn’t run off an ankle injury.
Sandro Tonali (7.5) – Went through the gears as the game went on, covering so much ground to sweep up. Calming presence on the ball, aside from the odd stray pass, to help us control the midfield and see the game out.
Joelinton (9*) – My man of the match. Set up Wissa’s opener and set the tone early on with his physicality, ability to drive us forward and move the ball into space. Won possession back so often, arrived in the box and pressed effectively. Man mountain, on and off the ball.
Harvey Barnes (7.5) – Superb touch, burst and finish to make it 3-0, and almost got an assist for Wissa in the second half. Quiet in patches, but came alive in big moments.
Yoane Wissa (9) – A menace for the PSV defence all night. His pressing caused havoc, his movement in the box was great to see, he took his goal well and forced the error to create Gordon’s goal to make it 2-0.
Anthony Gordon (8) – Helped set the tone with his pace, pressing and energy down our left. Got himself into some good positions and was rewarded with his goal. Great to see him back at it!
Lewis Miley (7.5) – Calm, classy and assured in possession once again. Always seems to pick the right pass. Played in midfield, at right-back and ended the night with the captains armband!
Anthony Elanga (7) – A positive cameo. Looked to go at his man, lifted by the crowd support and curled in one lovely cross for Woltemade.
Nick Woltemade (6) – A few loose pieces of hold up play but one decent header that forced the PSV stopper into a save.
Aaron Ramsey (6.5) – Neat and tidy. Brought that extra bit of energy to help us keep on top of PSV.
Joe Willock (N/A) – Only on for the final few minutes.
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