Newcastle midfielder Nabil Bentaleb spoke to nufc.co.uk after the extra-time victory over Oxford in the FA Cup.
Bentaleb played quite well before being replaced in extra time for Christian Atsu. It was a substitution that worked to Newcastle’s advantage. Atsu came in and provided Newcastle another outlet going forward.
Nabil played his part in this game and showed some real quality at times. He delivered a sublime cross to a breaking Joelinton, which the Brazilian should have done better with.
He did have a few sloppy moments where he gave the ball away cheaply. Considering this is just his third first-team appearance since last April after falling out of favor at Schalke, Bentaleb put in a very promising display.
Bentaleb has bought into the Newcastle ethos big time since joining two weeks ago. After the match, he talked about just how desperate the lads were to not let this opportunity slip away:
“We conceded the second goal right at the end of the game. We had the break, and we spoke and said, ‘Ok, now we are not losing this. There is no chance we are losing this.
“Ok, we didn’t make it easy for ourselves, but now we have to work it back, give for the fans and also prove to ourselves that we deserve to go through.
“We have a lot of personality in the team. We had really good momentum, and it was very, very tough to go up against them and their crowd and make sure we ended up on top. We managed to do it well, and I’m pleased. Everyone is pleased tonight.”
While we could have done without the pendulum of emotions yesterday, all in all, it was a triumphant evening for Newcastle. They don’t make it easy on themselves like Nabil said, but they showed enough fortitude to regain control of the match in extra time.
Then it was a magical moment from Allan Saint-Maximin that saved all of us from going through a penalty shoot-out.
Who Was The Man Of The Match In Win At Oxford?
- Sean Longstaff (32%, 854 )
- A. Saint-Maximin (31%, 822 )
- Jamaal Lascelles (14%, 373 )
- Miguel Almiron (10%, 274 )
- Nabil Bentaleb (4%, 95 )
- Joelinton (3%, 78 )
- Matty Longstaff (3%, 69 )
- Karl Darlow (1%, 29 )
- Matt Ritchie (1%, 16 )
- DeAndre Yedlin (1%, 14 )
- Ciaran Clark (0%, 9 )
- Christian Atsu (0%, 9 )
- Florian Lejeune (0%, 6 )
- Isaac Hayden (0%, 5 )
- Fabian Schar (0%, 4 )
Total Voters: 2,657
9 comments so far
Essex Geordie Bill
Feb 5, 2020 at 11:35 AM
Comment #1Ed
Aww come on mate we need a new scapegoat, he’s perfect, don’t go bigging him up!
Essex Geordie Bill
Feb 5, 2020 at 11:41 AM
Comment #2As for the game i watched the recording after midnight and for me it was the perfect typical cup game, with the big boys being given a nasty shock before ultimately prevailing, so well done to Oxford for their part in it.
We were deserved winners in the end though, next stop The Hawthorns and West Bromwich Albion United!
#cans ( formerly known as Mindshaft )
Feb 5, 2020 at 11:42 AM
Comment #3I’m trying to think who hasn’t been a scapegoat in this team – hard to think of one thats actually played more than 10 games
Essex Geordie Bill
Feb 5, 2020 at 11:42 AM
Comment #4Oops sorry, should have said Neil!
Essex Geordie Bill
Feb 5, 2020 at 11:44 AM
Comment #5cans
I reckon you’re right, even Dubs has had his share of scapegoating!!
IrishRob
Feb 5, 2020 at 11:49 AM
Comment #6I wonder did they stay over in oxford or London last night? It seemed way too late to be making the long bus journey back at that time.
If so we probably wont know about any injuries to Joe or anyone else until tomorrow.
Ron Knee
Feb 5, 2020 at 11:56 AM
Comment #7Rob
You were thinking of Schroedinger’s cat?
The next Mike Williamson
Feb 5, 2020 at 12:05 PM
Comment #8hearing awful things from wuhan. apparently some of them are even considering taking a free flight to sunderland.
Hail Wor Ashley
Feb 5, 2020 at 12:15 PM
Comment #9By the time we play West Brom, who are in pretty bad form, they will play another 6 matches to our 3 and will surely be prioritising and be focused on promotion back to the PL.
Big chance for us to progress to the quarters.
Need 4pts minimum from our next 3 PL matches before then.