Gary Neville lauds ‘fantastic’ Newcastle ace who has ‘come to life’ since joining from Prem rivals
Newcastle stars Sven Botman, Anthony Gordon, Alexander Isak and Joe Willock
Gary Neville has heaped praise on Newcastle United forward Anthony Gordon after he scored the winner against Arsenal, while Jamie Carragher has labelled the victory ‘absolutely massive’ for Eddie Howe’s side.
Newcastle were hoping to build on their brilliant 3-0 win against Manchester United in the League Cup on Wednesday night, and they did just that by overcoming title hopefuls Arsenal 1-0 at St James’ Park.
It was not a match filled with technical brilliance, as both sets of players put in plenty of big challenges and made the game more of a battle. But Newcastle will not care, as Gordon’s 64th-minute goal handed them all three points, taking them up to 20 points from 11 matches.
Gordon finished from close range after Joe Willock did well to keep the ball in play and then cross into the box, with both David Raya and Gabriel Magalhaes failing to clear. There was a long VAR check as officials discussed whether the ball had gone out of play, if Joelinton was offside in the build up and if the Brazilian had fouled Gabriel when challenging for the ball.
Ultimately, though, the goal was given and Newcastle deservedly picked up their sixth league win of the campaign so far.
Gordon, who was pivotal to Newcastle easing past Man Utd in midweek, netted the winner for the Magpies immediately after being moved from out wide to centre-forward. He has now registered four goals and two assists this term, having joined Newcastle in a £45million deal from Premier League rivals Everton in January.
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On Sky Sports’ coverage of the match, former Manchester United right-back Neville reacted to the result by praising Gordon, Howe and Newcastle.
“Brilliant [win]. I’ve watched them twice now in three days and both performances were fantastic,” he said (04/11, at 19:44). “They got the goals on Wednesday night but today was about spirit, fight, defensive determination and Gordon.
Anthony Gordon caps off ‘fantastic week’
“Anthony Gordon, just after he’d been put up front [he scored]. He’s had a fantastic week, he was brilliant at Old Trafford at centre-forward and he gets a goal again today. He’s come to life in a black and white Newcastle shirt and this crowd really love him.
“Well done Eddie Howe, well done Newcastle. They really have performed well today, the defensive work was outstanding.”
Fellow pundit Carragher added in the studio: “Absolutely massive win. They [Newcastle] have had problems, not normally at home, but certainly against the big teams in the last 18 months. It’s the only criticism you could have of them.
“There wasn’t great quality within the game, but that is an absolutely massive win, when you consider the players Newcastle had missing going into it. Huge victory.”
Newcastle will be hoping to get revenge on Borussia Dortmund in their next match, as Howe’s men travel to Germany in the Champions League on Tuesday.
