Anthony Gordon has elevated his game at exactly the right time for Eddie Howe and Newcastle
Anthony Gordon of Newcastle United
Newcastle United's Anthony Gordon
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It may not have been the headline-grabbing performance of last week, but Anthony Gordon left the Etihad Stadium on Saturday with his reputation as one of the Premier League's most dangerous players firmly intact.
The Newcastle United forward is exploring a new edge to his game at the perfect time for head coach Eddie Howe, and what he does between now and the end of the season could be vital in the Magpies' hopes of European competition next term.
With Bruno Guimaraes injured, Newcastle needed someone to step up to the plate and help drive the team forward. Gordon, among others, has seized that challenge with both hands.
He has always been a top talent, of that there should be no doubt.
However, with opposing sides increasingly realising that the best way to get a result against Newcastle, particularly at St James' Park, is to sit deep, deny them space and hit them on the break, he was perhaps struggling to make as big an impact as we would have liked this season.
You only need look at his Champions League performances, where United have been given more space to play to their strengths, to see that its less to do with Gordon's standards dropping and more due to the situation Newcastle have found themselves in domestically.
Without Alexander Isak's runs opening space ahead of him, Gordon has frequently found himself facing two, sometimes three defenders, with precious little movement in the box to pick out.
His workrate and effort have always been there, but frustrations at the lack of an end product were clear.
Cue the switch to a more central role. Instead of curbing his abilities to exploit space with his pace, it has opened up new channels for the England star to revel in.
Of course defences aren't always going to be as accomodating as Qarabag were last week, when he notched four first-half goals in a stunning display, but we saw at Spurs, when he set up Jacob Ramsey's winner, and at Man City on Saturday night, that he has the intelligence to work the channels and drag defences all over.
Experienced defender Ruben Dias had little choice but to scythe him down in the first half as he struggled to cope with Gordon's pace.
If United can get more players forward to support him - and that's always a difficult ask at the Etihad where City can pull you apart with a devastating counter-attack - then Newcastle could really be in business.
Gordon's tactical awareness is something Howe particularly admires, with the United head coach saying last week: "Every player has a preference on sides and positions. You want the player to play where he is most comfortable.
"Anthony has some really good qualities in that position. His pressing intensity but also is tactical understanding of when to do it and how to do it is of the very highest level.
"A couple of our goals (at Qarabag) came from his regains and that's not by luck, it's by his really good judgement. I was delighted with his performance."
With a place in the England World Cup squad up for grabs, you could forgive Gordon for wanting to excell in the position which Thomas Tuchel has regularly picked him.
However, if his form over the last month is anything to go by, he has only strengthened his cause by adding another devastating string to his bow.
That's good news for Newcastle United, and England.
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