The unsung hero that helped Newcastle defeat PSG 4-1
Each and every Newcastle United player who on the field last night is a hometown hero. Few people in Tyneside will ever forget the night this squad created in history.
But while Dan Burn and Sean Longstaff lived out their Geordie aspirations, Miguel Almiron became the first Mag to score in the Champions League since Shearer, and Fabian Schar scored a stunning goal in stoppage time, there is one man who won’t make the headlines who deserves so much recognition. It’s Jamaal Lascelles.
Last night was his best performance in a black and white shirt and the moment he deserves after years of leadership and dedication to a club that was on the verge of collapse when he first arrived. Sven Botman was injured, so he stepped in from the cold and was excellent as we kept clean sheets against Man City and Burnley in our two previous games.
From calling out a group of mercenaries under Steve McClaren to starting at Burton away in the Championship, he got his chance in the UEFA Champions League last night and took it with both hands. Not only did he captain the side to a historic win, he was absolutely outstanding.
The skipper came up against an attack worth almost half a billion in Kylian Mbappe, Goncalo Ramos, Randal Kolo Muani and Ousmane Dembele, yet he barely put a foot wrong. He won 100% of his tackles, didn’t lose an aerial duel all night, cut out what looked to be a dangerous counter with some brave defending in the first half and showed superb recovery pace on two occasions in the second. The first saw him cover for Schar and ease Dembele off the ball just as the Frenchman burst into the box and the second was a huge tackle to stop Bradley Barcola getting in down the left.
A week after shutting out Pep Guardiola’s treble winners in another huge win at St James’ Park, he’s kept Mbappe quiet on a night that will go down in history.
