'Don't even know what he was doing': Howe admits Newcastle player's positioning really shocked him last night

By Sam Preston

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe says he was shocked by Bruno Guimaraes’ positioning so high up the pitch to seal last night’s win.

Bruno netted the second goal of the victory over Arsenal, which had huge implications for the race for the final Champions League spot.

For Newcastle, it was about signing off on the best possible note in front of their home fans after the real early-season relegation fears have given way to a comfortable mid-table finish.

That is a good position to try and push forward from next term, by which time Bruno will have had a pre-season and will look to try and show even more of his quality.

Howe shocked by Guimaraes’ positioning for second goal

Speaking to Newcastle’s official website after the game, Howe said of Bruno: “I thought he was excellent today. Defensively very good.

“On the ball he’s a brilliant technician and I thought he played some creative passes from deep. He pops up with another goal.

“I don’t even know what he was doing up there! He was playing in a slightly deeper role than he has been.”

Arsenal were actually linked with Bruno in January before he joined Newcastle and he showed the difference he could have made to the Gunners’ midfield last night.

Even from a deeper role, he managed to get forward and score, further cementing himself as a cult hero on Tyneside.

Bruno is a Champions League standard player and Arsenal need to add a few of those to their ranks during the summer, but they may well be trying to do that from the Europa League next season.