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NUFC reporters reveal what Rodrigo Vilca was like on his SJP debut as U-23's pull off late win

by Olly Hawkins ·

Newcastle United new boy Rodrigo Vilca made his debut for the club at St James' Park today - and it seems he impressed local reporters in attendance.

The Peruvian was watched by The Athletic's Chris Waugh and The Chronicle's Lee Ryder, who both praised his technical ability and quality in possession in our 2-1 win over Fulham this afternoon.

Heres' what both had to say, along with his impressive goal which caught the eye during our warm-up:

https://twitter.com/ChrisDHWaugh/status/1318170030744334336


https://twitter.com/lee_ryder/status/1318161760126468096


https://twitter.com/NUFCblogcouk/status/1318160001769287682


The Mail's Craig Hope also praised the Peruvian, saying he looked "lovely on the ball" and a player who'll give the club "plenty to work with".

One slight negative, if you can call it that, was Chris Waugh revealing how there appeared to be a language barrier between Vilca and his teammates - with the 21-year-old only fluent in Spanish at present:

https://twitter.com/ChrisDHWaugh/status/1318178870311276545


As for the game itself, Fulham went into the break 0-1 up, however our second string - that featured Dummett, Clark, Lazaar and Matty Longstaff - came back to win 2-1 via late strikes from Yannick Toure and Stan Flaherty.

Flaherty, who recently arrived from Arsenal, appeared to be our star man, bagging an assist, a brilliant winner and being described as our 'most dangerous player' by Chris Waugh.

The game also saw Bradley Cross make his debut from the bench, with the South African appearing for the first time following his move to Tyneside on a two-year deal last week.

https://twitter.com/NUFC/status/1318184663920369665


So, a good debut display from Vilca, a solid run out for some of our senior men and a brilliant comeback win for the U-23's!

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