Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has welcomed Alexander Isak’s return to high type after his “best performance of the season” in a six-goal thriller in opposition to Liverpool. The Sweden worldwide blasted the Magpies right into a first-half lead, noticed one other end disallowed for offside and had robust penalty appeals waved away in opposition to the Premier League leaders. Requested concerning the 25-year-old’s contribution to an eventful 3-3 draw at St James’ Park on Wednesday, head coach Howe mentioned: “I think it was Alex’s best performance of the season for us. “First of all, let’s take his goal. It was a goal out of nothing for us, really, and this season we’ve missed those. “Last season, he regularly scored goals that he was probably not expected to score, and those moments of magic can swing games your way, and that was a massive step towards doing that. “He was elusive, difficult to mark and difficult to pick up and was popping up all over the place. He’s a great dribbler, so it was great to see those qualities back in his game, and I just thought it was a top performance from him.” Isak’s Thirty fifth-minute strike, a rasping drive from 22 yards, set the tone for a vastly entertaining match as a Newcastle aspect which didn’t muster a single try on purpose at Crystal Palace on the weekend rediscovered their sense of journey. Howe mentioned: “It’s great to have one of those moments from Alex because those moments of quality, he does possess and he’s delivered them consistently for us – maybe not so much this season, those strikes from distance, but he’s more than capable of doing that and that’s why he can make the difference for us.” Newcastle’s lead didn’t final, with Curtis Jones levelling inside 5 minutes of the restart, and though Anthony Gordon fired them again forward, Mohamed Salah’s double appeared to have received it for the guests till Fabian Schar slid dwelling a Ninetieth-minute equaliser. Keeper Nick Pope sparked hopes of an much more dramatic conclusion when he hurled the ball out to Isak, with Callum Wilson and Joe Willock in assist in opposition to simply two defenders deep into added time, just for referee Andy Madley to blow the full-time whistle. Howe mentioned: “I was hoping it would be one of those moments. I was thinking we might get one more chance – and I was hoping the counter-attack would be that – but obviously it wasn’t to be.”
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