Rafael Benitez admits he was surprised by Fabian Schar’s first goal

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Newcastle United beat Cardiff City 3-0 on Saturday afternoon.

Newcastle United boss Rafael Benitez has admitted to Sky Sports that Fabian Schar’s sensational first goal against Cardiff City surprised him.

The Magpies took on Neil Warnock’s side on Saturday afternoon, with both sides needing three points in their respective battles against the drop.

Newcastle fans couldn’t believe their eyes in the first half, as defender Schar embarked on a remarkable run spanning half the length of the field before curling home.

Schar added a second after the break, before Salomon Rondon set up Ayoze Perez to grab a third in a superb 3-0 win for the Magpies.

Whilst there may be ongoing talk about Benitez’s future and a potential takeover down the line, Schar’s performance grabbed the headlines.

The Swiss centre back, who arrived from Deportivo La Coruna over the summer, got off the mark for Newcastle with two goals, with his first a simply stunning solo goal.

Schar has been known as a technically-gifted defender ever since his time with FC Basel, but the goal still stunned manager Benitez.

Benitez admitted that he didn’t think Schar was capable of scoring such a goal, but praised him as a ‘player with quality’.

“Not the first one,” said Benitez when asked if he expected that kind of goal from Schar. “You can expect him to score maybe from a corner but he’s a player with quality and he was going forward. It was a great goal,” he added.