Newcastle United secured a 2-0 victory at Crystal Palace on Sunday, with £50million signing Nico Gonzalez delivering one of his best displays of the season. The win ended a run of successive defeats to Coventry City and Aston Villa, and the Spaniard's performance was central to the turnaround.
Gonzalez registered eight recoveries, a team-high, along with three successful dribbles and two tackles, according to Opta. His role under head coach Matthias Jaissle is to bring control amid the chaos of the team's 'vertical football', and his display against Palace was his strongest for a couple of months.
Midfield support key to Gonzalez's display
Jaissle was able to name captain Dan Burn in his starting XI for the first time on Sunday, alongside veteran defender Fabian Schar. Joelinton also started for the second time alongside Gonzalez, and the midfield looked far less easy to penetrate than in previous weeks.
The head coach had spoken of a 'leadership vacuum' in Friday's press conference, with both Burn and vice-captain Joelinton unavailable through injury. Jaissle told Chronicle Live ahead of the trip to Palace: "When I am talking to colleagues of mine in this league they also rely on leaders on the pitch. Extended arms who can deliver the match plan on to the pitch."
He added: "Of course, Dan is missing a lot. Like a couple of others as well. When we get them back and when we get them fit back. I imagine it takes still at least a couple of weeks to have them solid and on their best level, then it will get better."
Gonzalez earns 'exceptional' praise
Gonzalez's class was personified by the way he brought the ball out of the air, hooked it over Daichi Kamada and evaded a challenge from Adam Wharton before feeding Jacob Murphy to start the move for Newcastle's second goal. Murphy slid in Amar Dedic on the overlap, and his cutback was swept home by Harvey Barnes.
Troy Deeney named Gonzalez in his Premier League Team of the Week for BBC Sport, describing his display as 'exceptional' and calling him the club's best signing of their eight summer transfers. Deeney said: "Gonzalez might be the best signing that Newcastle have made, because they've got all these young players that have got pace, speed, good in the wide areas. The manager wants it to be like the Red Bull [Salzburg] team of old, which is sprinting more and all of that fun stuff. You need someone that can just control the game, one and two touch, and Nico Gonzalez absolutely does that. I thought he was exceptional."
Jaissle's side now have a template to build from, with Gonzalez key to delivering it. That starts on Thursday when they travel to Everton in the Carabao Cup fourth round.
