Newcastle shocked the Premier League yesterday when they went very close to beating Manchester City at St James’ Park.
Steve Bruce’s side were 3-2 up against Pep Guardiola’s newly-crowned Premier League champions with under 30 minutes remaining.
Sadly, the Magpies couldn’t hold onto their lead, but one man left Guardiola very impressed with his corners in the 4-3 thriller – Matt Ritchie.
Speaking after full-time, the Chronicle quote the Spaniard as saying: “We made a comeback from 3-2. Hopefully we can learn after our little distractions.
“(We conceded) three set-pieces, corners – of course. (Matt) Ritchie is so good as a taker and they are so tall and so aggressive.”
You simply can’t argue with that – the 31-year-old was outstanding.
Ritchie’s corners caused absolute chaos on Tyneside last night – Manchester City simply couldn’t deal with his deliveries.
Aside from his technical prowess, the Scot also didn’t shy away from his defensive responsibilities.
As WhoScored shows, Newcastle’s No.11 made two clearances and completed one tackle as well.
Ever since his training ground bust-up with Bruce, Ritchie has really turned his form around.
He grabbed an assist as Newcastle beat West Ham last month, and also set up another in the fantastic 4-2 win over Leicester.
Additionally, Ritchie played all 90 minutes as Newcastle drew with Liverpool at Anfield, and beat Sean Dyche’s Burnley at Turf Moor.
It would’ve been very easy for him to down tools after his altercation with Bruce, but he has done the exact opposite.
For that, he deserves huge credit.
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