Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has put Anthony Gordon’s match-saving display against Manchester City down to the “love” he has received after a difficult start to the season.
The 23-year-old England international turned in his best display of the campaign to date on Saturday in a much-improved team performance and capped it by winning and converting the 58th-minute penalty which earned the Magpies a 1-1 draw with the champions at St James’ Park.
Gordon had previously struggled to reproduce the form which propelled him into Gareth Southgate’s squad for the Euro 2024 finals but – buoyed by a pre-match display by ‘Wor Flags’ – he served up a reminder when his club needed it most.
Head coach Howe said: “Anthony probably needed a bit of love today – of course it’s difficult for me to love the players all the time, sometimes you have to give them the opposite in order to get the right responses.
“But ultimately it’s really important that we love all our players and we allow them to enter the pitch in a great frame of mind knowing that they’re free to make the odd mistake, that they’re playing in environment where they feel protected and loved, and I think Anthony’s got that.”
Gordon’s big moment came after he had been tripped by goalkeeper Ederson as he had run on to Bruno Guimaraes’ through-ball and tried to round him.
He sent the Brazilian the wrong way from the spot, in the process cancelling out Josko Gvardiol’s first-half opener on a day when City, without the expertise of midfielders Rodri and Kevin de Bruyne, dominated possession but were unable to add to their tally.
For Howe, who played Gordon as a central striker with both Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson unavailable, there was immense satisfaction in coming up with a plan to frustrate Pep Guardiola, a coach he holds in the highest regard, and seeing his players execute it.
He said: “I never see it as coach against coach, I see it as players against players, so all you’re trying to do is give the players the best chance to execute how they play against their opponent.
“If you get it wrong, it can be very difficult against Manchester City because of the level of player and their style of play. It’s unforgiving.
“We didn’t do a lot wrong in that first half defensively, but the one time we just make a couple of bad decisions, they expose you.
“There’s still stuff for us to grow and learn from, and try to get closer to them in every level. But they’re such a long way ahead, in terms of their style and development.
“But I can’t fault the players for what they’ve given today to try to execute that plan. On another day, I think we could have won the game if things had swung slightly differently.”