The praise for Newcastle United midfielder Bruno Guimaraes continues to pour in after a sublime display against Nottingham Forest.
Yesterday Alan Shearer was cooing over the 26-year-old on The Rest Is Football podcast and this time it's the turn of BBC pundit Garth Crooks who selected the Brazilian in his Team of the Week.
Guimaraes was the only Newcastle representative in Crooks', XI but given how much he dominated the game on Saturday, that does make sense, although it might be a bit harsh on Kieran Trippier to miss out.
It was Bruno's two goals that opened and closed the scoring in the match and both were simply brilliant in very different ways.
The opener from Bruno was a superbly hit volley with the outside of his foot after Kieran Trippier launched over a deep cross that evaded everyone but his intended target. His second, and the eventual winner, came after Bruno anticipated a short pass out from the defence and pounced before anyone else could react before guiding the ball into the bottom corner from 20 yards.
Garth Crooks was so impressed he hailed them as two of the best goals he's seen this season.
"Bruno Guimaraes (Newcastle): He scored two of the best goals I've seen all season in the 3-2 win at Nottingham Forest. The skill and technique required to produce such a high-quality finish on the volley against Forest was sensational, while his second goal was worthy of winning any match. Guimaraes has been an inspiration ever since he arrived at St James' Park. The Geordie fans have always loved their midfield ball players, especially those who wear their heart on their sleeve and show them that they care, and Guimaraes is one of those. Newcastle had a little bit too much for Forest on the day, but the hosts were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty when Taiwo Awoniyi appeared to be brought down by Martin Dubravka. Referee Anthony Taylor was having none of it."
Newcastle face Bournemouth next in the Premier League on Saturday and with Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson both potentially missing, it's good to have Bruno Guimaraes and, weirdly, Fabian Schar is such good goalscoring form.
Having Harvey Barnes back from injury is going to be huge in the back end of this season if Wilson and Isak continue to struggle for fitness as Eddie Howe will no doubt be pushing Anthony Gordon through the middle.
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Liverpool
|
12 | 16 | 31 |
2 |
Manchester City
|
12 | 5 | 23 |
3 |
Chelsea
|
12 | 9 | 22 |
4 |
Arsenal
|
12 | 9 | 22 |
5 |
Brighton
|
12 | 5 | 22 |
6 |
Tottenham Hotspur
|
12 | 14 | 19 |
7 |
Nottingham Forest
|
12 | 2 | 19 |
8 |
Aston Villa
|
12 | 0 | 19 |
9 |
Fulham
|
12 | 0 | 18 |
10 |
Newcastle United
|
12 | 0 | 18 |
11 |
Brentford
|
12 | 0 | 17 |
12 |
Manchester United
|
12 | 0 | 16 |
13 |
Bournemouth
|
12 | -1 | 15 |
14 |
West Ham United
|
12 | -4 | 15 |
15 |
Everton
|
12 | -7 | 11 |
16 |
Leicester
|
12 | -8 | 10 |
17 |
Wolves
|
12 | -8 | 9 |
18 |
Ipswich
|
12 | -10 | 9 |
19 |
Crystal Palace
|
12 | -7 | 8 |
20 |
Southampton
|
12 | -15 | 4 |