Nick Pope's long throws are a thing of beauty, mate. The bloke's got a cannon for an arm, and he showed it off against Benfica. Footy fans were in awe of the keeper's assist for Harvey Barnes' goal. It was a hell of a throw and a tidy finish from Barnes.
Some muppet on social media questioned whether a player could even earn an assist with a throw. What a mug! It's that rare, but Pope pulled it off. The keeper has more Champions League goal contributions this season than Liverpool's expensive duo Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak, who cost a combined £241 million. What a joke!
Pope's assist added to an impressive outing between the sticks as he kept his second Champions League clean sheet in a row. The win over Benfica took Newcastle to six points from a possible nine in Europe's premier club competition. Not too shabby, lads!
Pope's assist from a different angle
For those watching at home, the initial angle didn't quite capture just how special the assist was. But they later got a glimpse when TNT Sports showed an alternate angle of the assist from high up behind Pope's goal. The wide-angle clip shows the exact moment Pope spotted Barnes, who had clocked the open space behind Benfica's defence and immediately hopped on his bike.
Pope took a number of steps before unleashing a 65-yard throw that curled towards the right and directly into Barnes' path. Benfica defender Antonio Silva tried to get his foot to the ball and divert it away, but he miscued his effort, allowing Barnes to bear down on goal. The Magpies winger took just three touches before he fizzed a shot past Benfica goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin. What a beauty!
Newcastle fans react to Pope's assist
Newcastle supporters were unsurprisingly in awe of Pope's epic feat as they took to social media to share their thoughts. One fan wrote: "Hell of a throw. Hell of a finish." Another fan said: "CBS announcer questioned whether a player could even earn an assist with a throw. It's that rare. Wow."
Thanks to Barnes' tidy finish, Pope became the second English goalkeeper to register an assist in the Champions League, with Fraser Foster the first to do so during Celtic's clash against Barcelona in November 2012. Not bad company to be in, eh?
Howe's reaction to Newcastle's win over Benfica
For Howe, who notched just his second win over Benfica boss Jose Mourinho in nine matches, the 3-0 scoreline was no less than his side deserved. "It wasn't an easy game, that's for sure," Howe said. "They've got a manager who's been there and done everything in the game."
"We knew today was a difficult game and especially off the back of Saturday's result for us that ramped the pressure on. We had to handle that. That's why the win and the way that we won was really pleasing and hopefully we can take that into our next few games because we're going to need to back it up."
Newcastle will look to maintain the momentum when they host Fulham in a Premier League clash on Saturday at 3pm. Let's hope they can keep up the good work and give the fans something to cheer about!
