Eddie Howe admits he was very impressed with £21m Newcastle player vs Sunderland

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Eddie Howe has admitted that he was very impressed with what one Newcastle United player was doing in the big win against Sunderland yesterday.

Newcastle’s performance as a team was close to perfect as they dominated the game from start to finish, but there was some individual brilliance from some players who really shone.

Howe revealed in an interview with NUFCTV that he was really happy with what Miguel Almiron was doing in the game on Saturday afternoon.

Howe says Almiron played his ‘typical’ game against Sunderland

It’s been a difficult season for Almiron who hasn’t quite hit the brilliant run of form that he showed during last year’s campaign, but he has had some big performances in key games.

The Paraguayan scored the opening goal against PSG to get Newcastle’s only win of the Champions League group stage, and yesterday he was again crucial in winning what was a massive FA Cup third round tie.

The £21m winger played his normal high-pressing game and it worked wonders for Howe’s team as he proved key in the second goal after winning the ball back in Sunderland’s own box before passing to Alexander Isak to fire home.

Though things may not have been going his way in the final third, you know exactly what you’re going to get with Almiron regardless of his form and Howe’s trust in the 29-year-old really paid off.

After the game, Howe said: “Typical Miggy really. He presses high, forces mistakes. That’s one of his key strengths and he did really well.

“He was unselfish, made a good decision to square it to Alex who finished it brilliantly.”

Newcastle need to take confidence from this win

Newcastle absolutely had to win this game – to fall to yet another defeat and against their biggest rivals in Sunderland was absolutely unthinkable, especially for Howe.

The last few weeks have been really tough on the players who haven’t had much of a break and have just lacked that extra bit of energy to get some positive results.

Having lost seven of their last eight prior to the derby, Newcastle knew that they simply had to win and book their place in the fourth round or risk this season almost spiralling out of control.

Howe will now be hoping that they can take this result and performance and use it as a confidence booster to go one and get a few more wins in the coming weeks.