Newcastle United winger Anthony Gordon suggested Alexander Isak is the best striker in Europe after getting on the scoresheet with him during Tuesday's 2-0 EFL Cup semi-final win against Arsenal.
The Sweden international scored Newcastle's first goal in the first half before Gordon gave them a bigger lead in the second leg at St James' Park in early February.
“Very good. He's the best in Europe, probably at the moment, with the form he's in,” Gordon said of his teammate, whose goal was his 10th in his last nine games in all competitions.
“The best quality he has is that he is so humble. He is not afraid to pass the ball. He is very unselfish and his best ability is his raw ability on the ball.”
But the 23-year-old was quick to point out that while Isak had performed well, it had also been an impressive team effort.
“Everyone was at the top level. It's so hard to come to this place and they defend really well. It was always going to be kind of a blowout for us, but we executed it perfectly,” he said. .
“We are a team and that's when we play our best when everyone is on the same page. We have to be so ruthless, with and without the ball; all the top teams do it.”
A big victory halfway through the match!
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Manager Eddie Howe echoed Gordon's comments about how difficult the match had been for the visitors.
“I'm very pleased with the players. It was a tough game for us in many ways. We had players who struggled at half-time,” he told Sky Sports.
“I think we tried our luck at times, and I think Martin [Dubravka] played very well and made some very good saves. I thought the set plays, overall we got the little details right.
“Our mentality of defending our goal with the blocked shots, the heroic defenses that we saw in the last twenty to thirty minutes is great for us going forward.”
Man of the moment Isak was substituted in the 65th minute after taking a knock and Howe acknowledged that taking him off had an impact on the way Newcastle played.
“In the first half he was electric, I thought he played really well. He scored, but I thought his overall play was in a really good place,” he said.
“He felt his hamstring a little bit at half-time so we had to keep him under control in the second half and that was a big blow to our performance.”
In the meantime, Isak himself wanted to ensure that the rest of the team also received the praise they deserved.
“I think it comes down to a team thing,” he told Sky Sports. “Defensively we have been solid and we have the quality up front. Jacob [Murphy] helped me and I tried to be in the right place to finish the attacks.
“We came here with the intention of bringing home a good result and we did that. We have some time to change things, come back and do the same at St James' Park.”
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