Eddie Howe has heaped praise on Newcastle United goalkeeper Nick Pope for his incredible display against PSG on Tuesday night.
Newcastle could have very easily been beaten by three or four goals if it wasn’t for Nick Pope being on top form again in the Champions League.
His manager, Eddie Howe, spoke after the game about how impressed he was with some of the brilliant saves that he managed to pull of to keep Newcastle in the game.
Howe says Pope put in a ‘giant performance’ vs PSG
PSG could have gone 1-0 up very early on and killed Newcastle’s hopes as Kylian Mbappe almost scored a backheel from point blank range, but Pope’s reflexes kept the French giants out.
After going 1-0 up through Alexander Isak, things got a bit more intense for Newcastle at the back as PSG looked to really ramp up their attack and had a number of efforts on goal, forcing Pope to make six saves.
One stop in particular was the highlight of the £10m signing’s game. Pope’s second-half save against Bradley Barcola’s effort was absolutely unbelievable, with many expecting it to nestle in the back of the net.
Newcastle may have left the Parc des Princes bitterly disappointed after the penalty decision, but Pope and many of his teammates can all be proud of the way they performed against PSG.
In his interview after the game, Howe said: “Yeah Nick was very like he was at Milan away where we really needed a giant performance from him.
“I think when we went 1-0 up there was a hope that we could go and get a second and it didn’t really happen in the second half, we looked tired, they had a lot of the ball.
“And then the players accepted we just have to defend well here, we have to protect our goal like our life depends on it.
“I thought we did, Nick was a huge part of that as were the other players in the team and it looked like we got there.”
Pope will be key again vs AC Milan
Newcastle will now head into the final group game against AC Milan at St James’ Park and will again need their shot-stopper to be on top form if they are to come away with a victory.
In the reverse fixture at the San Siro, Pope had one of the game’s of his life as he made eight saves and earned his team a crucial point in their opening game of the tournament.
Knowing they need to win may mean that Newcastle will be a little more open at the back, so Pope will likely have a lot of work to do once again, but his boss will have full confidence in him to pull out another spectacular performance like he did against PSG.
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