Alan Shearer waxes lyrical about Allan Saint Maximin’s winning cup goal for Newcastle

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Alan Shearer hailed Newcastle United’s Allan Saint-Maximin after he scored a 116th minute winner to beat Oxford United in extra-time during an FA Cup fourth round replay on Tuesday night.

Steve Bruce’s team booked their spot in the fifth round away to West Brom after a dramatic 3-2 away win over League One opponents Oxford.

Sean Longstaff and Joelinton had put the visitors into a comfortable half-time lead, but Liam Kelly and Nathan Holland both scored late on to send the game into extra-time.

Saint-Maximin was not selected in the starting XI for the Magpies, but came on as a first-half substitute after injured goalscorer Joelinton was forced off with a rib problem.

Saint-Maximin threatened several times with his pace and dribbling to snatch a winner, which eventually came in the closing stages of the cup tie.

The 22-year-old cut inside past a couple of defenders to his favoured right foot and unleashed a powerful drive into the top corner.

Newcastle legend Shearer was left blown away by the Frenchman for his individual goal in the cup.

“What about this [goal] from Allan Saint-Maximin, that is fantastic,” Shearer told BBC One (4 February, 10:40pm).

‘The way he moves it he moves the defenders, you know he wants to come on his right foot. Has he got the ability to finish it off? Yes, and it’s exactly what Newcastle needed. It was always going to take a piece of brilliance and that’s what that goal was, brilliant.”

TBR’s View:

Saint-Maximin demonstrated what individual quality he has with his stunning late winner against Oxford and he’s threatened to do that several times during his first season with the club.

The speed machine has unfortunately had his injury problems to deal with so far, but if he can stay fit from now until the end of the season then he’s likely to inject some real quality to the Newcastle attack.

He now has two goals and two assists in 16 games across all competitions, but there is so much potential for him to improve on that.

Saint-Maximin should look at Wolverhampton Wanderers winger Adama Traore as an example, as he’s added the finishing touch to his game of being an explosive winger that is also composed with his final ball.