Steve Bruce says he’s ‘delighted’ with Joe Willock as the Arsenal loanee earned Newcastle a 1-1 draw against Liverpool.
The Englishman is proving to be a threat late in games, having already won them three points against West Ham and a point against Spurs.
The Magpies went behind in the third minute as Mo Salah lashed one past Martin Dubravka from close range.
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The home side missed plenty of good chances, keeping Newcastle in the game.
They thought they had pulled one back late on as Callum Wilson got round Alisson and stabbed over the line.
But his goal was controversially ruled out for a handball against Wilson. That meant Willock had to step up and be the hero.
He found space in the box and saw his shot deflected by Fabinho past Alisson, sparking huge celebrations.
When asked about ‘super sub’ Willock, Bruce said: “I think he will hate the tag because yesterday I devastated him by not putting him in the team.
“I told him the reasons why, then he picks up a knock in training and it was touch and go whether he makes the bench, so to come on and have that impact again, I’m delighted for him. To get three goals in three games, I’m delighted.
“I always thought we were a threat and in the first half we had some really good opportunities but missed the pass – a number of times we didn’t take the right option.
“But when you’ve got Callum [Wilson], Allan [Saint-Maximin] and [Miguel] Almiron on the pitch you know you’ve got a chance, although I didn’t think we would score twice in the last minute which was incredible – because the first one probably shouldn’t have been chalked off.”
The result is a huge one for Newcastle in their fight to remain in the Premier League.
They’re nine points ahead of 18th-placed Fulham and are in a commanding position to stay up.
A couple more points and they will surely get out of the Cottagers’ reach.
For Liverpool, meanwhile, the home draw is a massive blow for their top-four aspirations.
They’re languishing in sixth place and blew their chance to leapfrog West Ham and Chelsea.
After the game, manager Jurgen Klopp said they ‘didn’t play like we deserve Champions League football’.
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