Isaac Hayden broke the deadlock in Newcastle United’s Premier League clash with Southampton.
Following Newcastle’s clash with Liverpool before the international break, it appeared that the majority of the Toon Army wanted to see Jonjo Shelvey and Mikel Merino become the regular central midfield partnership for the Magpies after the pair generally shone against the Reds.
On his day, Shelvey is the most influential player in the Newcastle squad and one of the most impressive playmakers in the Premier League, while Merino appears to be shaping up to be a fantastic signing.
That may have left big question marks surrounding what role Isaac Hayden would play after being a fairly prominent member of the squad during Newcastle’s Championship promotion-winning season last term.
But while the 22-year-old will need to continue to impress – given the quality both Shelvey and Merino possess – if he hopes to earn more chances, he arguably came up with a brilliant response in their clash with Southampton on Sunday.
It was Hayden who broke the deadlock during the first-half with an excellent first-time strike from just outside the box after Christian Atsu’s effort had been blocked.
Isaac Hayden
The drilled effort left the wrong-footed Saints goalkeeper Fraser Forster with no chance of preventing the ball from finding the back of the net.
And with Merino and Shelvey’s partnership threatening to become something special, Hayden would have known as the ball found the bottom corner that he has probably done his chances of remaining in Rafa Benitez’s thoughts absolutely no harm at all.
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