Eddie Howe saluted inspirational skipper Bruno Guimaraes after watching him drag Newcastle to Premier League victory over Crystal Palace.
The Brazil international scored the first goal and made the second in a 2-0 win at St James’ Park as a tight encounter eventually fell the way of the hosts.
Guimaraes’ goal was his seventh of the season and represented his latest significant contribution to a team which has struggled for consistency so far this season.
Head coach Howe said: “Bruno is a very special player, a special person, a special character.
“He’s very positive, he’s got great energy and today he played a captain’s role because that game was always going to be decided by very key moments in the game and he’s come up with a big one for us, and he’s done it countless times.
“Your big players normally decide big games, and today was a big game for us decided by a huge player in our recent history.”
In a hard-fought opening 45 minutes, it was the hosts who looked the more likely to score despite the best efforts of Palace’s new £35million signing Brennan Johnson with Anthony Gordon and Joelinton both seeing strikes ruled out for offside and Eagles keeper Dean Henderson making a string of saves.
But in a scrappy second half, if was Howe’s men who made the most of the chaos, Guimaraes heading home the opener from close range with 19 minutes remaining and then sending in the corner from which Malick Thiaw stabbed home the second before substitute Joe Willock was guilty of a glaring late miss.
Howe said: “That’s the type of tight win that we needed to turn to our favour today, a typical Premier League game this year, very, very difficult to get total control of the game.
“I thought Crystal Palace were a very difficult opponent. Every time we’ve played them, it’s been tight, and they’re stubborn and their defensive performances this season have been very good.
“They’re a tough side to create and score against so we had to bide our time and we had to be patient. We navigated our way through the game really well and I felt the substitutes made a big difference when they came on. That’s tribute to the squad, really, the strength that we have.”
If Howe was delighted by his team’s ability to grind out victory in which they kept a clean sheet for the first time in 13 attempts, opposite number Oliver Glasner was left to reflect upon a familiar failing with both goals coming from set-pieces.
Asked if he had been able to identify the reason, Glasner said: “Yes, we know a few things, there are a few explainable reasons.
“It is my job to find better solutions. Right now, I have to admit that I have completely failed.
“Disappointing defeat, disappointing result. The most disappointment for me is conceding another two goals from set-plays. Five of our last six defeats, we have conceded goals from set-plays.”
