William Osula and Newcastle United's new ‘Philippe Albert’ moment
Eddie Howe team kicked off the toughest of months with a memorable win at St James' Park – just Manchester City, Barcelona (twice), Chelsea and Sunderland to come now.
Some games live long in the collective memory. Others less so.
So four days after a forgettable defeat at St James’ Park, Newcastle United fans were given a night to remember at the stadium.
I have watched, and reported on, some big home wins against Manchester United over the years.
The biggest of all, of course, was the 5-0 win in the 1996/97 season, best remembered for THAT Philippe Albert chip over Peter Schmeichel.
Back in the mid-1990s, when Kevin Keegan’s side challenged for the title, this game was one of the biggest on the club’s fixture list, and it still has an edge to it.
That era is still remembered today. Both sets of fans chanted about Alan Shearer’s decision to turn down a move to Old Trafford – 30 years after he joined his boyhood club in a world-record deal.
The 3-0 win early in Sir Bobby Robson’s tenure as manager in which Shearer and Duncan Ferguson ran riot, and Roy Keane was dismissed for taking a swing at Newcastle’s No.9, also comes to mind.
Newcastle had beaten Man United on their three previous visits to Tyneside, but supporters would have been forgiven for heading to the ground more in trepidation than expectation following the weekend’s home defeat to Everton.
Yet this fixture can bring out the best in the team – and Eddie Howe’s side, like Keane all those years ago, came out swinging.
Fans saw another classic on Wednesday night against a team which had been unbeaten in the Premier League under Michael Carrick, a boyhood Magpie who we never got to see wear black and white.
Without a number of players, including captain Bruno Guimaraes, Howe’s side dominated much of the game, despite playing with 10 men for 45 minutes following Jacob Ramsey’s harsh dismissal for a second yellow card, shown for simulation after he went down in the box. Replays showed contact from goalkeeper Senne Lammens.
This performance, unlike the one against Everton, was what this team has been about under Howe.
They recovered after Anthony Gordon’s 45th-minute penalty was cancelled out deep in added time at the end of the first half by Casemiro.
Necessarily compact after the break, they needed pace on the break, and that came from William Osula, who came close to joining Eintracht Frankfurt last summer.
Osula started and finished a stunning late move to claim a hugely-hugely important win. Osula laid the ball back to Kieran Trippier in his own half before running more than half the length of the pitch to score with a curling left-footed shot.
It was a goal out of nothing, and the 2-1 victory meant everything to a team which had not won a Premier League home game since January 7.
Osula might not be the answer to all the questions that have been asked about the club’s resources up front following last summer’s sale of Alexander Isak, but he can be part of the solution between now and the end of the season.
Certainly, he made his match-winning contribution look easy, but the team had had to do it the hard way over 90-odd minutes.
The club, still in three competitions, has started off the toughest of months on the front foot – just Manchester City, Barcelona (twice), Chelsea and Sunderland to come now.