Newcastle United cruised past North East neighbours Sunderland in the FA Cup with Bruno Guimaraes and the ‘excellent’ Miguel Almiron stand-out performers in the eyes of Ally McCoist.
If there was one moment which summed up the performance of two players who looked very much like Premier League operators up against Championship opponents, it came with around 20 minutes to go at the Stadium of Light.
Bruno Guimaraes clipped a trademark through ball over the top of the Sunderland defence with Miguel Almiron – Eddie Howe’s Paraguayan perpetual motion machine – turning on his Roadrunner legs to keep it in play.
Newcastle beat Sunderland 3-0 in FA Cup third round
Newcastle made light work of the Black Cats during their first trip to Wearside since 2015, Guimaraes controlling proceedings like he was conducting a Mozzart sympathy. Almiron, meanwhile, all-but put the game to bed seconds after the second half, forcing Pierre Ekwah into a mistake before setting up Alexander Isak.
Sunderland’s blunder, Newcastle’s plunder.
“(Almiron) has been terrific, he really has,” Rangers and Scotland legend Ally McCoist said during ITV Sport’s live coverage of a hotly-contested third-round clash.
“(Almiron and Guimaraes) have been the two best players on the pitch for me, they’ve been terrific. (The Paraguay international) has been brilliant, he’s had a fantastic afternoon. Excellent. Excellent.
“But he’s just been outshone by Bruno Guimaraes, who has (produced) a Man of the Match performance.”
Guimaraes and Almiron outstanding
Newcastle dominated almost from start to finish. They kept Sunderland dangerman Jack Clarke at arms’ length and restricting the fired-up hosts to a couple of Alex Pritchard pot shots from long distance.
And this will go some way to relieving the pressure on Eddie Howe, facing questions over his Magpies future for the first time. Newcastle had, after all, headed into the game on the back of eight defeats in nine games across all competitions, including exits from the Champions League and the Carabao Cup.
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