Well, no one expected to hear that Anthony Gordon could potentially face jail time roughly a week after signing a £45,000,000 contract with Newcastle United during the January transfer window, but one could expect to hear that he impressed in his debut match.
On Saturday, Feb. 4, Newcastle United ended up tying West Ham United after starting the contest off fast, they quickly took their foot off the gas peddle before letting their opponent back into the contest.
In the first half, the Magpies shined quickly with Callum Wilson securing an opening goal in the first few minutes. It looked as though they would start running away with the contest, but the Hammers stood strong defensively allowing little movement for the Newcastle forwards.
Before the second half came to a close, West Ham evened the contest at one apiece with Lucas Paqueta finding the back of the net.
While the Magpies struggled to find their footing in the second half, newly added forward Anthony Gordon shined.
Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe gave winger Allan Saint-Maximin an opportunity to get back into form against the Hammers, but he was unable to make an impact and was replaced by Gordon in the later stages of the second half.
Gordon looked bright and showed some bright moments to get Newcastle on the front foot. He was able to find a rhythm with top-class forward Wilson, even though there were no goals scored in the second half.
He was able to get the crowd back into the game with a pass that helped win a corner and had a really positive debut display despite limited time on the pitch.
I would expect to see Gordon back in the rotation soon with more minutes than just 21.
Howe needs to give Gordon an opportunity to shine in a starting role, but with just recently joining the club it makes sense for him to be slowly implemented into the system.
Contest Grade: B+
With the contest finishing as a tie, Manchester United (42 points) moves into third place while Newcastle (40 points) falls to fourth. The earlier outing loss for Arsenal against Everton frees up the opportunity for the top 5 in the Premier League to shift.
They now sit 10-10-1 on the season, while West Ham sits at 5-4-12.
Newcastle United now looks to take on Bournemouth on Saturday, Feb. 11, with kickoff set for 5:30 P.M.