In his Premier League Team of the Week, Alan Shearer named Ivan Toney as one of his selections. The Newcastle United legend pointed out how he was impressed by Toney’s response to Gareth Southgate, who chose to exclude him from the England squad for the 2022 World Cup.
Toney’s masterclass against Manchester City
In the final round of fixtures before the start of the showpiece event, Ivan Toney certainly made the headlines, scoring a stunning brace against City in his side’s last-gasp 2-1 win on Saturday.
The 26-year old opened the scoring for the Bees in the 16th minute, after beating Aymeric Laporte in the air to head the ball past a hapless Ederson.
Throughout the clash, the former Newcastle ace was a constant thorn in the Sky Blues’ side, and Manuel Akanji in particular.
The Swiss international simply could not tame the Brentford marksman throughout the clash, as he was bullied by him aerially from start to finish.
While it seemed as if Pep Guardiola’s side would equalise right at the death, a swift counter-attack by Thomas Frank side’s was capped off by a tap-in from the one and only Toney once again.
Shearer was impressed by Toney’s response
As per the Premier League’s official website, Alan Shearer was complimentary about how Ivan Toney responded to his exclusion from the Three Lions’ World Cup squad.
“Sent a clear message to Gareth Southgate with a powerful centre-forward display”, he commented.
After both his strikes, the Englishman’s celebration seemed to be a dig aimed towards Southgate.
Only time will tell whether the England manager regrets his decision to leave Toney at home but it’s safe to say that he proved why he is a handful for any defence in the world.
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