Three Newcastle players named in BBC pundits Team of the Week
BBC pundit and former Watford striker Troy Deeney has named Dan Burn, Joelinton and Alexander Isak in his Premier League’s team of the week following our 3-1 win against Nottingham Forest.
Newcastle dominated the second half of Sunday’s game and thoroughly deserved the victory thanks to some brilliant performances, plenty of possession, a return to our all-action style and some superb finishing as we hit Forest on the break.
Here’s what Deeney had to say on all three Mags after naming them in his TOTW for the BBC:
Deeney on Dan Burn - “Two old-fashioned English centre-halves this week and they were both excellent and did their jobs so well. Forest's Chris Wood has been the striker of the year so far and Burn put him to task. He did such a great job that Wood only had one touch in the Newcastle box.”
Deeney on Joelinton - “Everyone keeps forgetting that Joelinton came as a striker and game upon game, season upon season he just gets better and better as a midfielder. He's a big, strong physical specimen who scored an excellent goal but I like the whole way he conducts himself. He gets after people, and he's not afraid to make a tackle.”
Deeney on Alexander Isak - “A first time in the team this season for Isak. He got a goal and an assist against Forest and had great link-up play. He could have scored another one in the second half as well. When Newcastle were up against it he went 'right, watch this'. He can turn it up a level and dragged his team with him.”
After going 1-0 down in the first half, it was Isak who levelled things up with a cool finish after Sean Longstaff challenged for a header from a corner 10 minutes after the break.
It was then wave after wave of attack from the Magpies which saw Joelinton fire what Deeney described as an ‘excellent’ curled effort into the back of the net to send us into the lead after 72 minutes.
Burn had a solid game at the back for us, though given Lewis Hall’s performance in the game driving us up the pitch it does feel slightly harsh that the 20-year-old didn’t get a look into Deeney’s team.
