Newcastle United midfielder Sean Longstaff was given Man of the Match by Lee Ryder in their 1-0 Premier League win over Fulham.
Longstaff played a pivotal role again for Eddie Howe as the Magpies got back to winning ways in the league as a late Alexander Isak winner made sure it wasn’t three goalless draws in a row.
The win takes them back up to third, leapfrogging Manchester United on goal difference and closing the gap to Manchester City to just a point.
It looked as though the Magpies would be frustrated again after Bruno Guimaraes left the field in tears injured and Fulham had the chance to take the lead from the spot before a slip from Aleksandar Mitrovic saw his penalty take two touches off him and subsequently be disallowed.
But in the wake of the Brazilian’s injury, it was to be Longstaff’s moment in the spotlight with the ChronicleLive’s Chief Newcastle writer Ryder naming him as his Man of the Match in his player ratings, he wrote:
“Sean Longstaff 8
“Had a huge hand in the winner with a moment of quality. An all-round good midfield display. Man of the match.”
TIF Thoughts on Ryder’s comments…
Longstaff’s tireless work throughout was capped off by his brilliant cross to Callum Wilson at the back post who nodded across the face of goal to give Isak the simplest of touches to win the game.
Via Sofascore, Longstaff had the highest pass accuracy in the Toon midfield with 45/51 passes completed alongside 64 touches, the second-highest outside of the defence for Howe’s side.
He made four key passes which were only matched by Kieran Tripper, he also saw a goal-bound effort denied by a last-ditch tackle in the first half.
Continuing to battle away off the ball the 25-year-old won five out of six ground duels whilst making two tackles and an interception with his display meriting the praise he received.