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Eddie Howe said Dan Burn's header for the ages was even better than his goal that helped Newcastle end their 70-year trophy drought as the club strolled to their third straight Champions League victory with a 2-0 victory over Athletic Club.
Burn escaped his marker in the 11th minute and met Kieran Trippier’s free kick with a curling, drifting header from close to the edge of the box that went in off the post.
The triumph moved Eddie Howe’s side, whose next game is away to Marseille, to within touching distance of qualifying for the knock-out phase of the competition.
And afterwards, Howe hailed the goal from Burn as superior to the one he scored when they beat Liverpool to win the Carabao Cup last March - to lift their first trophy since the FA Cup in 1955.
Dan Burn bends his header into the far corner to give Newcastle a 1-0 lead
Burn enjoys ending Newcastle's trophy drought against Liverpool at Wembley in March
‘It was an incredible header from Dan,’ said Howe, who is about to celebrate the fourth anniversary of taking the Newcastle job. ‘I would like to see how far out it was. It was a well-worked routine and it was a strong header from distance.
'It would be difficult for him to do something as magical and memorable as the header in the cup final but the one tonight was probably technically better.’
The victory was a fine reaction to Newcastle’s shock 2-1 Premier League defeat to lowly West Ham United at the weekend but Howe was keen to avoid any suggestion his side was becoming a ‘Cup team’.
‘We don’t want to become that team that is yo-yoing in terms of attitude and performances,’ Howe said. ‘We want our identity to be clear regardless of when and where we play. We have to use the pain from the game against West Ham and harness that.
‘We don’t want to become associated with the tag of a Cup team. We went to be able to deliver consistently otherwise you never know when the negative side of your form is going to show.’
