Newcastle lucky to have special player and person Bruno Guimaraes – Eddie Howe | OneFootball

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe saluted “special” player and person Bruno Guimaraes after seeing him fire his side to a hard-fought Premier League victory over Fulham.

The Brazil international’s 90th-minute strike at St James’ Park after he had earlier passed up a great chance to restore the Magpies’ lead proved decisive as they emerged with a 2-1 win.

Head coach Howe said: “Bruno, I’ve spoken about him many times, but the player and the person together is a very special thing. His will to win, his drive, his determination to be successful is there for us every day.

“His professionalism to prepare himself to play is of the highest level and I always think you get your rewards if you do that and 90th minute, he’s still going.

“How he’s ended up in the box at that moment, I’d love to see back because there must have been a moment where he’s had to put the burners on and foresee what’s going to happen.

“But that’s down to his motivation, so he’s a very special player and as I say, a special person and we’re lucky to have him.”

Newcastle took an 18th-minute lead when, after he had robbed defender Calvin Bassey and raced away, Jacob Murphy fired across goalkeeper Bernd Leno and in off the post.

Sasa Lukic levelled 11 minutes after the restart with impressive half-time substitute Kevin the architect, and the visitors looked to have secured a point until Guimaraes pounced after Leno had parried Will Osula’s shot after he too made a telling impact from the bench.

Asked about Osula’s contribution, Howe said: “I’m really pleased with Will because he’s not 100 per cent fit. He’s nursing an ankle problem, so we’ve got to try to manage him correctly.

“But I think you’ve seen, everyone that’s watched us, a big development in his game, a big change in his confidence levels because of that. He’s coming on the pitch and influencing matches and he’s got great attributes.

“Today, he did really, really well, I thought, to choose the right time to shoot. Leno’s made a good save, but our captain is there to finish off the move, so it’s a massive goal for us.”

Fulham boss Marco Silva understandably felt his side had not reaped the rewards of their efforts against a team which beat Benfica 3-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday after being made to pay for errors in the run-up to both goals.

Silva said: “The game was more them on the front foot, but under control from us, and one mistake again, one mistake that we cannot do and they punished us in a counter-attack moment when you have to do the basics well and we didn’t.

“It’s a moment when you are being punished by details that always play a massive part in Premier League matches.

“We have to face it, we have to improve, clearly. The collective feelings from ourselves, they were good, but we want more.”