Alan Shearer believes Bruno Guimaraes was the man of the match in Newcastle United’s 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest.
The Magpies kicked off the new Premier League season with a win, with so many Toon players shining in black and white.
Dan Burn delivered after being chosen ahead of Sven Botman, while Joelinton picked up from where he left off last season. Allan Saint-Maximin was irresistible too, driving at the Forest defence all afternoon.
But in Shearer’s eyes, Bruno was the real star of the show at St James’ Park.
Shearer explains why Bruno was MOTM vs Forest
The Toon legend appeared on Match Of The Day on Saturday night, and waxed lyrical about Bruno’s performance.
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Shearer praised Joe Willock, Saint-Maximin and Fabian Schar, but thought the Brazil international was the best player on the pitch.
“But man of the match for me was Bruno,” Shearer said.
“The way he handles that ball under pressure, and is able to ping that ball in to the forward players. He’s so comfortable on the ball, particularly if you give him this amount of space.”
Shearer went on to add: “They got into so many good areas because of his ability. Never looks flustered, he always looks in control of the ball. He never panics.”
Bruno at the heart of Newcastle’s win over Forest
In our player ratings, Bruno was one of two Toon players to be award a nine out of 10 rating. The other was Joelinton, who we named as Geordie Boot Boys’ man of the match. However, it easily could have gone to Bruno.
The former Lyon ace was just unstoppable. He produced one slack pass early on, and that was probably the only error he made all game.
With Jonjo Shelvey out injured, Bruno played in the centre of our midfield three and absolutely dominated proceedings. He dictated the tempo of the game and constantly tried to move the ball forward and create chances.
The 24-year-old linked up brilliantly with so many players. The combination between him and Joelinton is fantastic, while Miguel Almiron is getting better and better thanks to Bruno’s passing.
If we’re to have a successful season, we need Bruno to play like this consistently. And given his start to life in a Newcastle shirt, that shouldn’t be an issue.
He’s an absolute Rolls Royce in centre midfield, and deserves all the plaudits coming his way from Shearer.