Eddie Howe has saluted unsung hero Jacob Murphy after watching him inspire Newcastle to Premier League victory over Crystal Palace.
Murphy, a £12million signing from Norwich in July 2017, has been a peripheral character for much of his time at St James’ Park to date and was sent out on loan to West Brom and Sheffield Wednesday before Howe’s appointment as head coach in November 2021.
However, it was the 28-year-old that the manager turned to for the club’s first Champions League fixture in 20 years at AC Milan last month, and he was asked to fill the injured Harvey Barnes’ boots against Palace, responding with the opening goal and setting up two of the three which followed in a 4-0 win.
Asked about the contribution of a man whose future at one point looked to lie away from St James’ Park, Howe said: “He’s someone who is the ultimate professional. He’s reliable, plays multiple positions and has never let me down.
“For me, it’s all about consistency. What you’re looking for from the players’ perspective is that they turn up every day and give their best.
“Now, you’re going to have some good days and you’re going to have some bad days. I always say that the key response is how you handle the bad days.
“Before I came here, Jacob had some difficult moments, but you have to keep coming back.
“You have to be really resilient, you have to keep turning up, and I believe that if you do the right things off the pitch, then eventually you’ll show the right things on the pitch.
“For me, he’s just been that model of consistency in his approach and attitude.
“It’s great to see someone who puts that work in rewarded with an opportunity, and then it’s all about taking that opportunity. He’s done that, and it’s great to see.”
Murphy’s fourth-minute opener, a lob towards Callum Wilson which looped over keeper Sam Johnstone and crept inside the far post, set the Magpies on their way, but it was two goals inside three minutes at the end of the first half which put them out of sight as Anthony Gordon, from Murphy’s cross, and Sean Longstaff found the back of the net.
Callum Wilson completed the scoring 24 minutes from time with the former Canaries winger again supplying the assist to send Newcastle, who used midfielder Sandro Tonali as a second-half substitute as he awaits the outcome of a betting investigation, into Wednesday night’s Champions League clash with Borussia Dortmund on Tyneside confident they can build upon their 4-1 demolition of Paris St Germain.
Howe said: “After the PSG win, we want to continue our momentum and see where it takes us.”
Opposite number Roy Hodgson left the north-east in sombre mood after a day to forget.
Hodgson said: “We were unfortunate with the first goal, of course, that didn’t help, that freak goal.
“If we’d have scored it, I’d have be delighted, but it’s a tough goal to have against you after a few minutes because that’s not one that really has come about because you’ve got it totally wrong defensively.”
Bristol City Women 0-4 Man City Women: Hosts relegated as Fowler double inspires WSL leaders
Mary Fowler scored twice to set WSL leaders Manchester City on their way to a 4-0 rout of Bristol City, who suffered relegation as a result, on Sunday.
With Arsenal having drawn with Everton earlier in the day, Man City knew a victory would be enough to take the title race down to two teams.
That victory duly arrived in emphatic fashion, with all four of Man City's goals arriving in the second half.
Fowler's fantastic strike opened the scoring in the 62nd minute, with the Australia international doubling her tally soon after, paving the way for an Amy Rodgers own goal and Alex Greenwood's late header to seal a huge victory.
Arsenal are now out of the title race, with Chelsea - who have two games in hand on Gareth Taylor's team - the only side capable of catching Man City.
The Robins, meanwhile, will be playing in the second tier again next term.
Data Debrief: Bristol heading down with a whimper
Bristol City have failed to score in their last five games in the WSL, a run of 544 minutes without a goal.
They mustered just 0.09 expected goals (xG) to Man City's 3.4, with the visitors having now kept a clean sheet in nine of their 20 league games this season.
De Rossi demands more from 'tired' Roma ahead of crunch run
Daniele De Rossi acknowledged his Roma team may be tired, but he insisted they must not allow themselves to be embarrassed.
Roma fought back to draw 2-2 with last season's Serie A champions Napoli in a pulsating fixture on Sunday.
Tammy Abraham's late header secured a point for De Rossi's team, who took the lead through Paulo Dybala's penalty before going behind to goals from Matias Olivera and Victor Osimhen.
With Serie A set to have five teams in the Champions League next season, Roma occupy fifth spot with four matches remaining, but sixth-placed Atalanta are just two points behind with a game in hand.
There is also the small matter of a Europa League semi-final against Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen on the cards over the coming weeks, and De Rossi set the stall out.
"We drew, it is not a result to throw away, but it is not the result or the performance that we wanted," Roma coach Daniele De Rossi told Sky Sports Italia.
"At times you can steal the ball off Napoli, but we then gave it back again too many times. Napoli had a lot of chances in the first half, we did better in the second, but we have to do better.
"Look, we are tired, but we cannot start thinking that we’re tired and that means we can be embarrassed in the final few weeks of the season."
Roma host Leverkusen on Thursday before taking on Juventus on May 5, with a crunch clash against Atalanta – who are also into the Europa League semi-finals – set to follow after the away leg against Xabi Alonso's team.
Key to a successful end to the campaign for Roma will be keeping Dybala fit. The Argentine has been involved in the joint-most goals (12) in Serie A since the turn of the year, scoring nine and setting up three, level with Juve's Dusan Vlahovic.
PSG's latest Ligue 1 title arrives as Monaco lose to Lyon
Paris Saint-Germain have been crowned as Ligue 1 champions after Lyon overcame Monaco 3-2 on Sunday.
A 4-1 midweek win over Lorient ensured that one more victory would be enough for Luis Enrique's team to get over the line, but PSG failed to get the job done themselves when they faced relegation-threatened Le Havre on Saturday.
That game was the 700th match of the QSI era at PSG, and the club's 1,900th in France's top flight.
However, PSG's wait to win their third straight title did not last long, as less than 24 hours later, Lyon – who will face the Parisians in the final of the Coupe de France at the end of May – came out on top in a topsy turvy encounter with second-placed Monaco.
Substitute Malick Fofana was the matchwinner for Lyon, and ultimately the player who handed the title to PSG.
Wissam Ben Yedder had put Monaco ahead in the opening minute, but quickfire goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Said Benrahma turned the match on its head before half-time.
Ben Yedder netted his second to restore parity on the hour mark, and thought he had sealed his hat-trick when he volleyed in from a free-kick, only to have strayed offside.
With only a win good enough for Monaco to stay in the fight, the visitors were then caught out in the 84th minute, with Fofana racing onto Lacazette's throughball and finishing calmly.
After a dismal start to the season, relegation looked a real possibility for Lyon, but they are now, with three games remaining, still in with a shout of qualifying for Europe.
PSG on the other hand now have 12 Ligue 1 titles to their name, with 10 of those coming under QSI's ownership. Aside from the COVID-impacted 2019-20 season, five of their last six league titles have been secured before the start of May.
It also means Luis Enrique remains in the running for a treble in his first season at the club, with PSG taking on Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semi-finals next week.
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