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One Newcastle United star was the subject of praise from a former England winger after playing a key role in Saturday's win against Premier League rivals Leicester City.
Former Arsenal and England winger Theo Walcott picked out one Newcastle United star as ‘the difference’ in Saturday’s big win against Leicester City.
There was a bit of pressure on the Magpies ahead their meeting with Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s side after they had produced a dismal display in last weekend’s 4-2 defeat at Brentford. In response to that loss, Eddie Howe rang the changes with Sandro Tonali and Anthony Gordon recalled at the expense of Sean Longstaff and Harvey Barnes. There was a change in goal as the knee injury that is expected to keep Nick Pope on the sidelines for up to a month ensured Martin Dubravka was brought in to make his first Premier League appearance of the season.
The Magpies were at it from the first minute as they created a whole host of chances inside the opening half-hour and their persistence paid off when Jacob Murphy finally opened the scoring by rounding off an intricate corner-kick routine with a neat finish from the edge of the box. The opening stages of the second-half offered little respite for the Foxes as Howe’s side ran out of sight with a quickfire double from captain Bruno Guimaraes and Alexander Isak. The latter of that duo then rounded off a hardworking display at the top end of the pitch by setting up Murphy to double his tally with United’s fourth goal of the day on the hour-mark.
Two-goal hero Murphy can often divide opinion amongst Magpies supporters - but former Arsenal winger Walcott believes the former Norwich City man brought a balance to the United side that made a big difference in their win over the Foxes.
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Speaking on Match of the Day, he said: “They were very good because the whole balance of the team worked. There’s a bit of debate of where Anthony Gordon plays, (Harvey) Barnes, they’ve got all of these players but we saw a better Gordon today, on the left-hand side, where he’s more comfortable and he can enjoy himself. There’s Murphy as well, and he’s a player I like because he’s always asking questions of defenders, he never gives you breathing space. He was the difference, Murphy, because that balance on the right-hand was there. This was a Newcastle I want to see with a better performance against a lesser team.”
The Magpies are back in action on Wednesday night when they host Brentford in the Carabao Cup quarter-final.
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