The Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has said that the former Manchester United winger Gabriel Obertan was extremely good in the Europa league encounter with Club Bruges at the St James’s Park. Newcastle came into the match with a terrific home record in the European competitions after not having lost for more than 20 matches.
They extended that run once again with a 1-0 win over the Europa league opponents thanks to goals from the French winger Gabriel Obertan, who has been criticised a lot for his performances since his move from Manchester United. Following the match, the manager Alan Pardew said that this performance showed the talent and quality within Gabriel Obertan.
He is hoping for more performances of similar stature from the French winger in the future. Obertan has been criticised often for his lacklustre performances by the Newcastle fans. However, he scored after just 3 min on the clock in the second half to give Newcastle a good lead. Alan Pardew said that Gabriel Obertan still has a long way to go because he is only 23 years old. Obertan has been the reason for Newcastle winning the last two Europa league matches according to Pardew.
“He’s still only 23. He has a fantastic future. We owe him a big debt for the last two European games because we wouldn’t have won without him. He’s been terrific for us and hopefully he’ll play a bigger part in the Premier League as we go along,” said the Newcastle manager. This was not the first choice team used by the manager, as he made substantial changes to the team that started in the 1-1 draw with Sunderland during the weekend. Newcastle have been struggling to get results in the Premier league, but they are in with the chance of qualifying to the next round of the Europa league.