Newcastle United are looking in a much better position in the Premier League than they were when Eddie Howe took over, moving from relegation certainties to practically looking safe. Another win on Saturday saw them move further away from the drop.
Ryan Fraser was in inspired form, opening the scoring after 12 minutes against Brighton and then assisting the second goal just a couple of minutes later as Fabian Schar doubled the lead for the Magpies.
Are Newcastle United all but safe now?Should Be
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His performance certainly didn’t go unnoticed, Micah Richards was on Match of the Day and he singled out the winger for his analysis, despite claims Alan Shearer texted him to pick out Schar!
Richards had this to say on Fraser: “You can just see now he’s playing with such confidence. There were reports of them falling out and the way it ended [Fraser and Howe at Bournemouth] but I heard the interview when he said it was nonsense. You can see it in his game, he’s running in behind, he’s following things up and he’s just playing with that spark and that freedom and it ties in with Newcastle’s form, they’ve been excellent.”
Fraser was Newcastle’s top performing player as per SofaScore.com, picking up a match rating of 8.0. He was clearly a handful for the Brighton back line as he won three free kicks during the match. Only Pascal Groß registered a better rating, marginally pipping Fraser with an 8.1.
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The win left the Magpies seven points clear of the drop, sitting 14th in the table. It was a nervy climax at St James’ Park as Lewis Dunk halved the deficit early in the second period, but Howe’s side saw the game out for a momentous three points.
In other news, Joe Willock slammed