Newcastle United’s squad players stepped up on Wednesday night.
An injury crisis and a busy fixture schedule meant Eddie Howe was forced to rotate for the Carabao Cup fourth round clash with Manchester United but that raft of changes made little difference.
Indeed, Newcastle were brilliant at Old Trafford, with the likes of Tino Livramento in particular impressing.
Then there’s Lewis Hall.
The £28m defender performed well at left-back and even scored his first goal for the club he supported as a boy with a lovely volley on a brilliant night for him.
As a result, one man was impressed.
Lewis Hall: Sean Longstaff blown away by Newcastle teammate
Speaking after the game, Longstaff was effusive in his praise of the former Chelsea defender.
“It’s a special night for everyone,” he said (via The Chronicle).
“Lewis Hall, young lad at full-back, I thought he was outstanding. The manager gives us a gameplan every week, there’s a reason he’s so good. We’ve got good depth in the squad. Everyone was terrific.”
Lewis Hall: How well did Newcastle star play vs Man United?
Up against a hugely expensive winger in Antony, who did well against Dan Burn in the final of this competition at Wembley earlier this year, Hall performed admirably.
As WhoScored data notes, the 19-year-old made two tackles (the joint fourth-highest in Howe’s squad), one interception (joint-fifth) and one clearance (joint-seventh). Indeed, it wasn’t just his strike to get excited about.
Hall also found the mark with three of his five attempted long balls and obviously scored a fine goal on the volley too.
With Matt Targett going off injured, he certainly didn’t do his chances of a more regular starting berth any harm.
Certainly one for the future, there’s little reason Hall can’t get more chances to impress in the more immediate term.
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