Newcastle’s Will Osula unsure if winner against Man Utd is his best goal to date

Will Osula is not entirely sure if his stunning winner against Manchester United is the best goal of his career to date.

The 22-year-old Newcastle striker set St James’ Park alight on Wednesday night when he climbed from the bench to race almost the entire length of the field before cutting inside Tyrell Malacia and curling an unstoppable shot around Harry Maguire and beyond keeper Senne Lammens to seal a 2-1 Premier League win.

However, asked afterwards where the goal ranked for him, the Dane compared it to his strike against League Two Bromley in last season’s FA Cup third round and said: “Well, I’ve had a similar one, to be honest, last season in the FA Cup.

“But yes, this season it’s my best goal.”

Osula’s latest contribution was hugely significant for both teams, ending the Magpies’ three-game losing home run in the league, but also inflicting a first defeat on interim Manchester United boss Michael Carrick at the eighth attempt.

It came in the final minute of a tooth and nail encounter in which referee Peter Bankes was a central, and at times controversial, figure.

Bankes, who had earlier cautioned Jacob Ramsey for a tug on Casemiro’s shirt, booked him for a second time for simulation after he went down under Lammens’ challenge, much to his astonishment and the anger of the vast majority of a crowd of 52,184.

Their mood improved within seconds when Anthony Gordon was brought down by Bruno Fernandes inside the box and confidently converted the resulting penalty, only for Casemiro to head the visitors level in the ninth minute – three had been indicated by the fourth official – of first-half added time.

Eddie Howe’s men returned knowing they faced an uphill battle to retain the point with which they had left the pitch, but to their credit, the 10 men gave as good as they got and when their big moment arrived, they did not allow it to pass.

Substitute Osula won possession deep inside his own half and fed full-back Kieran Trippier before setting off at full tilt to receive his return pass down the line and, after a slight stumble, work his magic.

He said: “What’s going through my head first of all is to keep the ball in, I felt like it was nearly going out of play. Then, as I kept the ball in, it was just to be direct, come in and try and change the game.

“When I see a one-on-one situation, I go and take it and I’m happy with the end product too.”

Osula’s instinctive brilliance raised the roof at St James’ and provided a major boost for a team which had won just one of their previous seven league games ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup fifth-round clash with Manchester City and a Champions League double-header against Barcelona either side of a trip to Chelsea.

The frontman, the winner of a Manchester United Soccer Schools World Skills Final as an 11-year-old, said: “Moments like this are top for the whole of Newcastle. Us winning the game is an amazing feeling.”