Jacob Murphy: A bright spark for Newcastle United at the Etihad

In arguably Newcastle United’s toughest match of the season, winger Jacob Murphy was a bright spark in what was an otherwise unforgiving afternoon for the Toon.

A trip away to the Premier League’s top dogs rarely inspires confidence, but against a possession-hungry Manchester City, Toon winger Jacob Murphy was clinical.

Signed for Newcastle’s return to the top flight this season, it was promising to see the 22 year-old mark his first goal for his boyhood club with such a composed and skilful finish.

In the 67th minute with Newcastle losing 2-0, striker Joselu miscontrolled the ball in his own half, but thankfully on-running central defender Ciaran Clark was alert and already looking upfield. Playing a defence splitting through ball between the City defenders, Clark’s pass was perhaps the best of the night from either side, turning defence into attack seemingly out of nowhere.

Murphy latched onto the pass, ran clear of the struggling City defenders and produced a composed, sublime chip leaving £35million goalkeeper Ederson stranded and helpless right in front of the traveling Toon faithful.

Alongside encouragement from teammate Jonjo Shelvey, the winger quickly grabbed the ball out of the back of the net in the hope of leading what would’ve been a remarkable comeback from the Toon. In a game where they had only a pitiful 19% possession, it was encouraging to see the attacking players of Newcastle keeping faith in themselves and remain committed until the final whistle.

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Having the most touches of any Newcastle United player besides goalkeeper Karl Darlow and left-back Paul Dummett, it’s clear that Murphy was not content with his anonymity in the first half, and no wonder: there is a real opportunity for him to make his mark on this side.

Usual starting winger Matt Ritchie has been dropped recently for a string of poor performances, and the midfield is where Newcastle have been lacking all season long with the Toon desperate for an attacking threat.

A positive display against Arsenal earlier in December was one-upped by a great assist for the youngster against Stoke in January, and his goal against City was another display of the talent Rafa Benitez saw in the ex-Norwich and England Under 21s player when he signed him for £12million in the summer.

Murphy didn’t feature in the disappointing 1-1 home draw to fellow strugglers Swansea City in the game previous to Manchester City, and there will now understandably be pressure for Benitez to play the winger to see if Newcastle have a real difference maker moving forward.

Scoring your first Premier League goal away at the league leaders is an incredibly difficult task. Toon fans will be hoping that the even more difficult task of avoiding relegation will be made easier with more goals and performances like that from Murphy.