Magpies eyeing safety after Allan’s animal magic secures vital victory
1 BURNLEY Vydra 18
2 NEWCASTLE Murphy 59, Saint-Maximin 64
STEVE BRUCE declared Newcastle can be a ‘different animal’ with Allan Saint-Maximin in the side after the Frenchman inspired a vital 2-1 come-from-behind victory at Burnley yesterday.
Newcastle were second best and trailing to Matej Vydra’s first-half goal at Turf Moor before SaintMaximin came on just before the hour. Within two minutes he teed up Jacob Murphy’s equaliser and five minutes later he ran from the halfway line to score what proved to be the winner himself.
The victory lifted Newcastle six points above the relegation zone, and could prove to be a huge moment in their season.
This was only Saint-Maximin’s 18th league appearance of a campaign hit by illness and injury, but the Frenchman changed the way Newcastle could play as ponderous attacks turned into incisive direct play.
Saint-Maximin came on alongside top-scorer Callum Wilson, back after seven games out with a hamstring problem, and Bruce is hoping the pair can give Newcastle the attacking impetus they need.
‘All week the question was, “were they ready”,’ Bruce said. ‘They’ve had big injuries, muscle injuries, and it made sense to leave them (out of the starting XI) and see if they could make an impact and they’ve certainly done that.
‘Probably only Allan could have done that, and when you see games like that you see what we have missed. I hope we can keep them both well because we are a different animal with them in the team.’
The result ended a seven-game winless run for the Magpies and eases some of the pressure, with Bruce adding: ‘It’s three points towards that magic figure. As I’ve said all along, it doesn’t matter what the other teams do, you’ve got to get there yourself.’