Eddie Howe names the Newcastle United star who played his ‘best game’ for the club

Eddie Howe hailed Anthony Gordon’s performance against Sheffield United as his “best game” since signing for Newcastle United.

The £45million January signing from Everton started on the bench at Bramall Lane this evening but his introduction helped spark a record-breaking result.

In an 8-0 win for the Magpies - their largest-ever away victory - Gordon provided the assist as Sean Longstaff opened the scoring 21 minutes.

Dan Burn, Sven Botman and Callum Wilson made it 4-0 before Gordon cut inside on the left to curl his shot into the bottom right corner.

Miguel Almiron, Bruno Guimaraes and Alexander Isak wrapped up the scoring. And while Howe admitted it was hard to single players out, the Magpies’ head coach was hugely impressed by the Liverpudlian’s display at Bramall Lane.

Howe told reporters: “I think that’s probably his best game for us. I thought he was very good, very direct and I thought his goal was outstanding. He assisted at least one I can remember. He’s a real threat and he’s got so much ability, so much to give and he’s got the attitude to go with it as well.

“His desire to improve, I see it every day in training. He’s usually one of the last players off the training pitch and it’s great to see him rewarded for that at the start of the season.”

Gordon and his teammates recorded back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time this season on the back of Tuesday’s Champions League draw in Milan.

The result equalled the club’s biggest-ever Premier League win - an 8-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday in September 1999.

Howe said: “A great week for us, and that’s football for you. Before the Brentford game, we knew the importance of that game. Massive point in the week and it’s good to see us return to our very best today.

“When you look at us against Aston Villa, it was a similar feel. I never doubted us in the final third, I think we’ve got some outstanding players. We’ve had a very tough start to the season in terms of fixtures but today we were ruthless and kept looking to score.

“We respect Sheffield United and Paul Heckingbottom but we just had to do our thing by keep pushing for goals.”