Last night wasn’t always pretty, but it was a huge win for Newcastle United, setting us up nicely for Sunday’s Carabao Cup Final after a tough few weeks.
Eddie Howe’s side will face Liverpool at Wembley without Sven Botman, Lewis Hall and Anthony Gordon (suspended), but the lads stepped up on Monday night to get the job done.
Bruno Guimaraes jabbed the ball home from close range to secure three points for the Magpies in what has panned out to be a near-perfect night in the capital – hopefully not for the final time this week.
There is no concern around Alexander Isak, Sandro Tonali or Nick Pope after two went down and the former was subbed off at different stages of last night’s 1-0 win over West Ham.
Isak was ruled out of Newcastle’s trip to Anfield in late February with a groin injury, leading to concern when he subsequently limped off before full-time that same week.
He came off in the latter stages again and seemed to be playing within himself, while Tonali (knee) and Pope (foot) both went down with knocks.
However, Howe’s post-match update on the injury front was a positive one, saying: “We’re hopeful that we’ve got a clean bill of health. I don’t think you ever quite know until the next day or two, but at the moment I think we look okay.”
Asked about Isak’s late withdrawal in his post-match press conference, he added: “Yes, I didn’t take him off with an injury. I took him off because I thought he was tiring. But no issues that I’m aware of.”
Newcastle will be without Botman, Gordon and Hall for the Carabao Cup final but the manner of victory on Monday Night Football will serve as a big confidence boost ahead of Sunday.
Defensively, with a centre-back pairing of Dan Burn and Fabian Schar, the Mags were solid enough to record their first clean sheet in seven. Kieran Trippier rolled back the years with his performance, while Tino was solid defensively in Hall’s absence on the left of the back four.
Harvey Barnes got a rare start as a left-winger and his assist ultimately won us the game when he floated the ball into the six-yard box for Bruno to poke past Areola. Joelinton returning to the midfield, and crucially avoiding suspension, is another massive positive for Howe and co. ahead of Wembley.
The selection dilemmas that have cropped up rapidly in the ill-fated approach to the Carabao Cup final may have just had their answers solidified with Monday’s performance.