Newcastle United sailed past bitter rivals Sunderland on Saturday.
For the first time since 2011, Newcastle got one over against their biggest rivals, romping to a routine win to progress into the fourth round of the FA Cup for the first time under Eddie Howe’s stewardship.
Despite the obvious nerves heading into a derby game during a difficult run of form away from home for Newcastle, they dominated at the Stadium of Light.
In fact, it was such a convincing win that the team were able to take a photo celebrating the victory in front of the away end, much to the annoyance of the home crowd still in the stadium.
There were a number of big performances from a Newcastle perspective, with both Bruno Guimaraes and Miguel Almiron hailed in particular by pundit and commentator Ally McCoist.
After the game, Guimaraes sent a message to Almiron.
Miguel Almiron: Bruno Guimaraes responds to Newcastle star’s performance vs Sunderland
Taking to Instagram after the game, Almiron captioned a collage of himself in action: “Never Give Up!! Derby win.”
Guimaraes duly responded with three love heart emojis.
Miguel Almiron: How well did Newcastle star play vs Sunderland?
Almiron does frustrate at times but he has put in some big performances this season.
Though the purple patch of goals has dried up compared to last season, he was excellent against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League both home and away.
Clearly, Sunderland can’t match PSG for quality but this was another big game for very different reasons, given the bragging rights at stake.
According to WhoScored data, the 29-year-old put in a stunning nine tackles, more than anyone on the pitch, had two shots (second-highest) and amassed a 90.5% pass completion percentage (second of any outfield Newcastle player to feature for the whole game).
An all-action performance in a hostile atmosphere, Almiron should be applauded.
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