You could take your pick of the top performers against Crystal Palace if you wanted to include a Newcastle United star in your team of the week.
While there is still plenty of room for improvement for Newcastle, it was a much better showing against Palace on Sunday than we have seen in the past couple of weeks.
Who was your MOTM against Crystal Palace?!
THREE CRUCIAL POINTS 😍
Bruno Guimaraes stepped up and led the way once more, while Lewis Miley was crowned man of the match by the Geordie Boot Boys readers.
However, it was another Magpies man who caught the eye for Troy Deeney when choosing his team of the week.
Troy Deeney names Malick Thiaw in team of the week
In his regular column for BBC Sport, Deeney outlined the performance of Malick Thiaw as the standout from the game at St. James’ Park, earning him a spot in the star XI of the week for the Premier League.
On Thiaw, Deeney wrote: “From November onwards, he has been exceptional. He had a tough time in Italy but he is delivering consistently now. He scores a goal, which always helps for any defender in this team of the week.
“Solid performance, delivered, was more aggressive and I feel like he is starting to get his bearings now and feel like he is the man at Newcastle.”
This comes after Alan Shearer praised Thiaw, and we gave the defender a glowing review in our Newcastle United player ratings vs Crystal Palace.
- READ MORE: What Sandro Tonali did immediately after being subbed as Newcastle United slump continues
Eddie Howe’s glowing comments on Malick Thiaw’s rapid-fire impact for Newcastle United.
Malick Thiaw’s stats vs Crystal Palace
You only have to glance at Sofascore to see that Malick Thiaw was their star of the day, too. He picked up a massive 9.6 rating there to be the player of the match.
Aside from his goal, which he was gifted by some terrible defending from Crystal Palace, the German centre-half also made 17 defensive contributions. That includes ten clearances, two blocked shots, and six ball recoveries.
He also won three of his five tackles, two of which were while he was the last man. Across ten duels during the game, Thiaw won eight, including all five of his ground duels.
On top of all that, Thiaw also completed 85% of his 54 passes, including 16 in the opposition half. Now that’s what we call an all-action display.
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