Newcastle boss Eddie Howe admitted he was not a happy man when he saw Fabian Schar lining up his “incredible” deadlock-breaking strike against Nottingham Forest.
The Switzerland international defender took aim from distance to end the Magpies’ frustration with a 25-yard piledriver which set his side on their way to a 2-0 win over promoted Forest on their return to the Premier League.
Howe said: “It was an incredible strike from a player that does the unconventional, really. A centre-back shooting from that range – I probably wouldn’t have reached if that was me playing. “But he’s capable of doing things like that, special moments.
I was questioning his decision as he lined up to hit it, but I was delighted to see it hit the net. “We sort of needed a goal like that to break the deadlock because we had created a number of chances and hadn’t taken them, and it took a long-range goal to get us going.” Newcastle had to remain patient despite dominating from the first whistle until the last, and it took something special for them to get their noses in front.