Eddie Howe revealed Newcastle’s match winner Will Osula scored an identical goal in training on Tuesday after asking to do extra shooting practice.
The 22-year-old forward scored a 90th-minute winner to beat Manchester United as 10-man Newcastle produced arguably their performance of the season to triumph 2-1.
Afterwards Newcastle manager Howe said: ‘Will wanted 10 more balls after training yesterday and he scored eight out of ten of them just like that.
‘He wanted to do the work. I am a great believer that if you do the work you get your reward.’
It emerged on Tuesday night that Osula once won a skills tournament at United as an 11-year-old in 2014. United posted on their social media accounts about him at the time.
‘Congratulations to 11-year-old William Osula from Denmark, winner of today’s MU Soccer Schools World Skills Final,’ the post read beneath a photo of the youngster receiving a trophy from former United captains Bryan Robson and Gary Pallister.
Will Osula was Newcastle’s matchwinner during their 2-1 win over Manchester United
Osula was practising his finishing on Tuesday at training and the extra work paid off
Osula eventually joined Sheffield United’s academy. He made 28 league appearances for the Blades before Newcastle bought him in 2024.
The goal earned Newcastle a much-needed three points after they had been reduced to ten following the sending off of Jacob Ramsey with the score at 0-0 towards the end of the first half.
Ramsey was adjudged to have dived under a challenge from United goalkeeper Senne Lammens and picked up a second yellow card but Howe said: ‘It was very iffy. He lost his footing. You have to be really careful as a referee before changing a game like that. It ruined the game.’
Newcastle’s win ended Michael Carrick’s unbeaten run as United caretaker coach.
He said: ‘We are bitterly disappointed. It hurts tonight. We came here in good shape, looking to get something from the game, and we’re disappointed with the way it panned out.
‘There are certain things we have to do. We can be an awful lot better. We’ve put ourselves in a decent position with the performances and results we’ve had. Tonight hurts and we need to learn a lesson.’
