Newcastle United youngster Vakhtang Salia scored the winning goal in Monday's under-21s derby against Sunderland at St James' Park, fulfilling a personal dream. The young Magpies twice came from behind to beat the young Black Cats 3-2 in PL2, with goals from Kyran Thompson, Park Seung-soo and Salia securing the win in front of 5,100 fans for Robbie Stockdale's side.
Salia's goal was his fifth of the season at under-21 level, continuing a strong start to the campaign as he makes his mark on Tyneside. The 19-year-old joined Newcastle from Dinamo Tbilisi in January 2025 and officially joined the club last summer after initially staying with the Georgian side on loan. His first season on Tyneside was disrupted by a hamstring injury that kept him out for seven months, but he has been making up for lost time this term with important goals for the second string.
Emotional winner against rivals
After fighting his way back from the injury spell, Salia admitted he was emotional to score such an important goal in such a significant game. "I think it was for us and for me the most important win against Sunderland," Salia told Chronicle Live. "It's a derby for us and it's really important and I'm very pleased we ended like this and I scored the goal."
"We tried to be strong after goals we conceded and we showed mentality and we showed we have character. So we'll try to continue like this," he added. "It took a while for me too and I'm very pleased it went in. We tried to do our best in the games and try to win all the games but this goal and this win was the most important for us."
Salia acknowledged the significance of the derby to the local area. "Obviously this is the under-21 level but at senior level this means a lot to this area. Every time I went in Newcastle, they always talk about Sunderland and how we have to win against them and how we have to beat them and now I think like that and we try to do our best in this game and I think we deserve the win."
Competition and motivation
Salia is thriving on competition with summer signing Afner Ca, who has scored three goals since his move from Levante. Ca started the win over Sunderland and made a big impact without scoring, before Salia replaced him from the bench to score the winner. "I think football is all about competition and if you deserve to start, you can start. But when I go in, I'll try my best and try to score, try to assist, try to help the team. We're all family here and try to win the game."
The Georgia under-21 international has also caught head coach Matthias Jaissle's eye and was named on the bench in September's 2-1 win over Hull City. Jaissle watched the under-21s derby from the stands on Monday and has been keen to develop a 'bridge' between the under-21s and the first team this term, which Salia believes is giving him and his team-mates a 'big motivation' to impress the head coach.
"It was a good experience and I'll try to keep myself there and if I deserve, probably I'll be there," Salia added. "Let's see, it's the coach's decision, not mine. Let's see, I hope we'll be back soon. It's a really big motivation and that's why we are this motivated and try to win all the games. Maybe we get the chance in the first team, maybe we're not, but we try our best."
Salia will hope to continue his fine form on Tuesday when Newcastle under-21s look to book their place in the knockout rounds of the Jersey Mikey's Trophy by avoiding defeat against League Two side Rotherham United.
