Newcastle United star becomes first player in 13 years to achieve incredible feat
Eddie Howe will take pride in his team’s performance against Benfica, but one Newcastle United star also made history at St James’ Park.
Anthony Elanga was benched by Howe, and it was an exciting duo of Anthony Gordon and Harvey Barnes who shot the Magpies to victory in the Champions League on Tuesday, 21 October.
Nick Woltemade was rather quiet, with Jacob Ramsey struggling to make the desired impact for Newcastle, but they still managed to claim all three points to move up to seventh in the table.
One huge positive was goalkeeper Nick Pope, who not only kept a clean sheet with multiple saves but also grabbed an assist in front of the home fans, writing himself into the history books in the process.
Nick Pope assists Harvey Barnes’ first goal
Throwing the ball a total of 65 yards, Pope grabbed an unexpected assist as Barnes raced in behind Benfica’s defence to slot past Anatoliy Trubin off the bench.
According to BBC Sport (22 October), he became the second English goalkeeper to assist a Champions League goal after Fraser Forster‘s incredible performance for Celtic against Barcelona back in November.
It was a magical night for the Hoops, with Victor Wanyama netting the opener at home before Forster launched a long ball forward, which was latched onto by Tony Watt.
While Pope’s moment was a little less memorable, it was an incredible contribution at a time when Jose Mourinho‘s side were pushing for an equaliser at St James’ Park.
How did Eddie Howe react to Newcastle United’s win vs Benfica?
While there were certainly improvements to be made, Howe, overall, was very satisfied with the performance, saying, “Good performance. Even first half, we created some good chances but had to be patient for the first goal.
“We scored three great goals and looked like a constant threat in the game. Delighted with the win. It’s a massive result. Benfica are a really good team, so we had to show our qualities today.
“I thought we were patient initially because we had chances and didn’t score early, but we kept at it.”
Next up is Marco Silva‘s Fulham side, who are currently on a three-game losing streak, and will be hoping to rectify that when travelling to St James’ Park on Saturday, 25 October. The stadium will be bouncing, though.