Joe Willock believes Newcastle United owed Manchester United a loss as they got revenge for their EFL Cup final defeat to the Red Devils with a 2-0 Premier League victory.
The Magpies were denied a first major trophy in 68 years as goals from Casemiro and Marcus Rashford condemned them to defeat at Wembley in late February.
But Eddie Howe s men put in a much-improved performance at St James Park on Sunday, as Willock and Callum Wilson struck to haul them above Erik ten Hag s side and into third in the Premier League.
Speaking after his team moved into the Champions League spots, Willock felt Newcastle used the cup final disappointment to their advantage as they got vengeance for that heartbreak.
Today we played really well, he told Sky Sports. We deserved the victory. It was electric today in here. We fed off the crowd and got the big three points.
I feel like we owed them one after the cup final. We took that very bitterly, we didn t take that lightly. Losing a cup final, it hurts a lot. We took that anger into this game today and from the start we dominated play.
Willock s goal set Newcastle on the way to their first league victory against the Red Devils since October 2019, and the Magpies now lead them in the table by virtue of their far superior goal difference.
The former Arsenal man is confident his team can get over the line and finish in the Champions League spots for the first time since the 2002-03 season under Bobby Robson, with Opta rating it a 58.2 per cent chance they end the campaign in the top four.
1996 have beaten Man Utd with both teams starting the day in the Premier League’s top five places for only the second time, with the other instance being the famous 5-0 win at St. James’ Park in October 1996 under Kevin Keegan. Force.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe)
I feel like we have to believe, Willock added. We ve been in and around there all season.
We ve got a brilliant team, brilliant manager and a brilliant environment for us players to work in, so I feel like there s nothing stopping us.
Howe felt his team s efforts warranted the three points, having accumulated 3.57 xG (expected goals) and restricted Ten Hag s side to just one shot on target, a tame long-range effort from Antony that Nick Pope easily saved.
Today we fully deserved the win, Howe said. It wasn t a lucky win.
We knocked at the door the whole game, I think statistically we were very strong today. So I m really pleased with the players.
Newcastle s bid to finish in the top four is now entering a crucial stage with three consecutive away matches next up, starting with a trip to the London Stadium to face relegation-threatened West Ham on Wednesday.
Howe urged his players to keep their focus, explaining: That was my words after the game. We ve got three games in six days, we have to be focused on West Ham.
But we re in a good vein of form. Three wins in a row is difficult to do in the Premier League, so we ll look forward to those games.
