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Laurie Martin

Allan Saint-Maximin’s Man City masterclass only underlines ‘frustration’ with Newcastle star

Chris Sutton was impressed by Newcastle United forward Allan Saint-Maximin's performance against Manchester City, but he wants to see that type of display on a more consistent basis.

The winger put in a match of the match performance in the 3-3 draw against the Premier League champions. Saint-Maximin claimed two assists, won the free-kick which was scored by Kieran Trippier, and constantly had Kyle Walker on the back foot.

It was an electric performance from the Frenchman and the type that he has shown he is capable of during his three seasons at St James' Park. However, Sutton wants to see more from Saint-Maximin, who scored five goals and claimed five assists last season.

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"He's very erratic," said Sutton on Football Daily. "He does is it in small, sharp bursts but he can't somehow knit it all together. Eddie Howe said it was his best performance since he's been managing at Newcastle, and if you look at his numbers over the last couple of seasons at Newcastle, a player who has that much talent should be giving more and doing more. That's what we saw yesterday.

"The challenge for Eddie Howe is for him to keep reeling off those performances week in and week out. There aren't many better players than him in an attacking sense. We can say that Kyle Walker wasn't quite on his game, but who would want to play against him in that sort of mood?

"We don't want to go too early on him just off the back of a performance against Manchester City, but he did seem to be better in terms of his decision-making. I think that's always been the frustration with him - that he wants to beat a man once, twice, three times.

"We saw yesterday with his performance that his decision-making was better. Hopefully, from his point of view and Newcastle's point of view, the penny has finally dropped.

"Now he has to do it week in and week out. I think other teams have certainly paid him close attention and have doubled up because of the threat that he has, but he has to make that decision as to when to pop it off quickly and early. When he's in one-vs-one situations, nobody is going to want to come up against him. From Newcastle's point of view, long may it continue."

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