Newcastle United are giving a fantastic lesson in what happens when you hand a Champions League winning manager one of the best squads in Championship history.
Rafa Benitez might not quite be on course for an unbeaten season – much to the chagrin of more than a few ambitious punters – but they’ve really kicked into gear of late.
The Magpies demolished Preston North End by six goals to nil to reach the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup, while they’re flying high in the league with 31 points from their first 14 games.
The last of their 10 league wins came against Ipswich, but it was one of those goals – a first-minute opener from Ayoze Pérez – which really caught the eye.
https://twitter.com/GallowgateGoals/status/790941071324872704
It almost feels like men against boys, with Newcastle’s entire starting XI – from goalkeeper Karl Darlow to frontmen Pérez and Dwight Gayle – getting a touch before any of the Tractor Boys can so much as lay a finger on the ball.
In fact, the first touch from an Ipswich player comes when goalkeeper Bartosz Białkowski picks the ball out of the back of his net.
And if you’re the type of person who prefers to visualise a goal with numbers on a diagram, rather than watching the action, Opta can help out with that.
22 – Ayoze Pérez's 1st goal for @NUFC v Ipswich on Saturday ended a sequence of 22 passes from kickoff & involved all 11 players. Style. pic.twitter.com/mqqE4Qx472
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 26, 2016
Is it the best ever goal scored in second-tier football? We can’t think of a better one.
And suffice to say Newcastle fans were loving it.
Shelveys long range passing🤑
— z100 (@z100sopporate) October 25, 2016
https://twitter.com/howay_the_lad/status/790966349765939200
https://twitter.com/Toon_KDL/status/790943215637688320
