When Newcastle youngster Matty Longstaff was given his debut against Manchester United last month, little did anyone know the impact he would have in the Premier League.
But, despite being relegated to the bench at West Ham, Longstaff’s feats were acknowledged, when his winning strike against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side was named BBC Match Of The Day’s Goal Of The Month.
It was fully deserved recognition of not only the wonderful strike and electric build-up play, but also of the importance and priceless value of what the goal meant to the club.
There were some brilliant goals included in the competition for October’s best goal, including superb strikes from Aston Villa’s Douglas Luiz, Everton’s Gylfi Sigurdsson and Burnley’s Jay Rodriguez.
But it was Longstaff who won the accolade, picking up 22 per cent of viewers’ votes, which was two per cent more than second-placed Rodriguez.
Matty Longstaff made a fanastic start to his Newcastle career
It caps off a wonderful month for the more junior Longstaff brother, and although he may have been left out on Saturday, it is obvious to most fans that he has a big future ahead of him.
It is now up to Newcastle to offer him a new deal – his current one runs out in the summer – which represents the high regard the club hold him in.
His win was not met with unanimous agreement from football fans around the country, however, with some suggesting that it was simply the number of Toon fans that voted which influenced the result.
Here are some of the Twitter reactions to the announcement:
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