Joe Willock scored his first Newcastle United goal of the season against Southampton, and received a message of praise from Mehrdad Ghodoussi afterwards.
The Toon co-owner was quick to congratulate the midfielder after the game, having watched Eddie Howe’s side pick up another victory.
The 4-1 win on the south coast made it four wins in a row for Newcastle, lifting them up to third in the Premier League table. No matter what happens, we will be in the top four going into the World Cup break.
The Magpies’ win over Southampton was an interesting one. We weren’t at our best, but we scored some fabulous goals.
There were four different scorers, each of significance to Toon fans. We all love seeing Miguel Almiron continue his run, while Bruno Guimaraes dedicated his strike to his baby boy.
Chris Wood got his first Premier League goal of the season off the bench – a much deserved goal given his contributions last season. And we also saw Willock open his account, which has been a long time coming.
Ghodoussi’s message to Willock
The 23-year-old has been playing very well this season, but goals have been hard to come by. But he eventually broke his duck against Southampton, netting Newcastle’s third of the afternoon.
After the game, Willock took to Instagram to celebrate. Alongside a picture of him celebrating his goal, he wrote: “The Maggies are on fire.”
‘Maggies’ has become Willock’s trademark, but it’s a long time since we’ve heard him say it. It was a regular occurrence during his loan spell here.
After a slow start as a permanent ‘Maggie’, Willock has shown real signs of improvement in a Toon shirt. And Ghodoussi believes the best is still to come.
In response to Willock’s Instagram post, he commented: “Lots more to come.”
If there is more to come from Willock then the rest of the Premier League better watch out. The midfielder has become a more rounded player under Howe, having got his £25million move to St James’ Park on the back of a sensational goalscoring streak.
But that run was always going to end at some point, and it has taken Willock some time to contribute in other ways. However, he is certainly doing that now.
The former Arsenal man has massively improved, and at 23 still has time to get even better. As Ghodoussi says, there is certainly a lot more to come from Newcastle’s number 28.
The win over Southampton shouldn’t be the last time we hear Willock say ‘come on you Maggies’ this season.
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