Saturday night’s game against Manchester City was a night of many firsts for Newcastle United.
Our first win against the Cityzens in the Premier League in our last 35 encounters. Eddie Howe’s first Premier League win against today’s opponent period, and for Harvey Barnes, the first Newcastle player to score a brace against Man City since Alan Shearer all the way back in 2003.
Alan Shearer was on punditry duties for the Premier League on Saturday, hailing the team’s character, response to setbacks and three Mags in particular…
After some of the frustrating comeback losses we’ve been on the wrong side of this season, such as Arsenal at home and Brentford away, there was a strong sense of relief that we were able to hold on for all three points against the toughest opponent we’ll face all season in the Premier League.
And Shearer was one those relieved fans today, commending the entire squad for their composure and professionalism in seeing out the win, along with Howe’s changes to help see out the win.
“The disappointment of conceding so soon after you’ve scored, then to come back from that again and get the goal, I think they deserve great credit for that.”
“But I think what was equally as impressive was in the way that they held onto it. They didn’t panic, Eddie then changed the system, made a couple of substitutions, and with the pressure that they’ve been under and with the performances that have been a little lacklustre in recent weeks, it would have been easy for them to fold under pressure that Man City were obviously going to put on them.”
“But I thought they stood firm, and they thoroughly deserved the three points. And we know there was a lot of missed chances in the first half and it could have gone either way, but I think in the second half they were the better team and they deserved it.”
Whilst Barnes seems to have been Shearer’s unofficial player of the match, he also lavished praise on the returning Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento, who made a huge difference at both ends of the pitch:
“I think certainly today what made the difference for me was Harvey Barnes on one side, and the two fullbacks.
“I thought that with the energy they had, not only defensively but in forward positions as well, I think Newcastle really benefited from that.”
Shearer then spoke of the much-improved balance to Howe’s side, believing Barnes’ response to early misses and energy throughout was a highlight.
Though Barnes should have scored twice in a frantic first half, Shearer was impressed by his play against Nunes and hard work for the team, hailing his all-round play, not just his two match-winning strikes:
“I thought the balance was much better today and he played a big part in that. I thought he gave the fullback (Nunes) a really difficult game.”
“Obviously, he missed an absolute sitter, but the apart about that is I like that: a lot of players would then go and hide, he actually put the most difficult one away and it was a brilliant finish.”
“And I was impressed with his performance, not only his goals, but his work rate and the way he went past the fullback, the way he tried to get balls, and he was a constant out for Newcastle as well as his hard work. So I thought that was a terrific performance from him.”
Add Comment