Jacob Murphy scored his first goal of the season on Saturday in Newcastle’s 5-1 win vs Brentford, and the Toon winger has thanked Callum Wilson for his role.
The pair combined to score Newcastle’s second of the afternoon after an error from Bees keeper David Raya.
The Magpies’ shape and press forced Brentford to go from the halfway line all the way back to the goalkeeper. Then Murphy forced the error from Raya.
He got in the goalkeeper’s face, who quickly tried to play it out to his defender. But Wilson was there to intercept and race through on goal.
However, rather than score himself, the £20million squared it for Murphy. He did the rest, easily finding the net to make it 2-0.
There was a huge release of emotion from Murphy when it hit the back of the net. And he also made the effort to praise Wilson for his contribution.
That continued after the final whistle when the former Norwich man spoke to NUFC TV.
Murphy thanks Wilson for his goal vs Brentford
After the game, Murphy spoke to the club’s official website and made sure to praise his teammate Wilson for the assist.
“It’s been a while since I last scored, so it was a lot of relief to see it hit the back of the net,” he said.
“I must say a bit shout out to Cal. He’s a ruthless goalscorer, he’s in a cracking position. But he saw me in a better position, he rolled it on a plate for me so credit goes to him as well for that.”
Selfless Wilson
Wilson deserves a lot of praise for his assist for Murphy on Saturday. He very easily could have gone for goal himself.
As Murphy says, he is a ruthless goalscorer and he is also the Newcastle number nine. Scoring goals is his food and drink.
But the 30-year-old made the right decision, and gave the goal to someone else.
This comes just a week after he robbed Joe Willock of a goal against Fulham. It looked like the midfielder’s header was going in before Wilson tapped it over the line.
Two games in a row and Wilson has made key decisions at the right moment. He didn’t know if Willock’s effort was going in so he poached it over the line. And on Saturday he could see that Murphy was in a better position.
He now has three goals and an assist this season, which is an impressive tally. And he would be doing even better had he not missed a spell due to injury.
But Wilson is fit and firing now, and making a difference in the final third.
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