Les Ferdinand has hailed the role of Alexander Isak during Newcastle United's 1-0 victory over Southampton at St Mary's on Tuesday night during the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final, after he claimed that the Swede offers something different to Callum Wilson in the final third.
Eddie Howe's side head back to St James' Park with a one goal lead ahead of the second leg on January 31. A 73rd minute goal from Joelinton - who had an earlier strike disallowed for handball and somehow blazed over the bar from yards out when it looked easier to find the back of the net - finally saw the Brazilian get on the scoresheet.
He had little to do in truth thanks to the brilliant work from Isak down the right-hand side, who picked out Joelinton from within the six-yard box to tap home. After coming on as a substitute for Wilson in the 67th minute, his impact was almost immediate.
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And now Ferdinand has heaped praise on Isak for his instrumental role during the win, as he claimed that the former Real Sociedad man offers a different attacking option for Newcastle compared to Wilson.
"Callum [Wilson], we hardly mentioned his name throughout the game and when he walked off I was like ‘wow, he’s hardly touched the ball,’ and we found out he’s only touched the ball 15 times," Ferdinand told Sky Sports after the match.
"Isak came on and what he does is offer something a little bit different. He’s happy to run the channels, and the goal came from the fact he was down the channels.
"Okay, we may put this [the goal] down to bad defending, but he’s [Isak] got around him, he’s been positive and we saw the clip - great ball into the box - he looks up, sees Joelinton the distance he’s come from and he’s made up for the mistake earlier on where he’s chucked the ball over the bar.
"That’s the sign of a good goalscorer - you miss once but you get in there again. He waits for him to get there and gives him an easy tap-in."
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