Bruno Guimaraes will have dreamed of days like this at St James' Park, but scoring both goals in Newcastle United's 2-1 win against Leicester City? Even Bruno looked like he needed to pinch himself at full-time as the exhausted Brazil international collapsed facedown before looking to the heavens, blessing himself and getting to his feet to celebrate with his overjoyed team-mates.
Bruno made a bold decision to swap life in the Europa League with Lyon for an immediate relegation battle last January, but there can be no doubt that the midfielder has joined a club on the up. This was Newcastle's fifth straight win at St James' Park and rather than being the hunted - the Magpies are now 12 points clear of the relegation zone - Howe's side are chasing down those sides above them in the table. Remarkably, Newcastle are now just three points off Leicester in ninth.
There will be even bigger games to come, but Bruno will never forget Sunday afternoon. Not only did Bruno pop up with an equaliser, the 24-year-old scored Newcastle's latest ever Premier League winning goal on record in the 95th minute.
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It was a goal that epitomised the never say die attitude of this side under Eddie Howe. Once upon a time, Newcastle would have crumbled after Ademola Lookman's 19th-minute opener, as they did in the reverse fixture back in December, but the Magpies were not even prepared to settle for a point after Bruno levelled matters on the half-hour mark. Never was that more apparent than in the final seconds of the game.
It would have been easier for Matt Targett to have settled for a goal kick as he held off James Justin in the dying moments, but the left-back instead launched the ball forward to substitute Joe Willock. Again, it would have been easier for Willock to run to the corner to waste some time but the midfielder made a positive run forward and got a cross into the box.
All the while Bruno gambled and broke forward into the box. You would not have known that Bruno had received treatment for a back injury at half-time and the 24-year-old was there at the death to head Newcastle in front with a stunning diving header. If it was loud when Bruno equalised in the first half, well, the roof came off when the midfielder scored his second and whipped his shirt off in celebration.
The idea that there may be 'other Brunos' to come, in the words of Eddie Howe, will understandably excite Newcastle supporters. UEFA's new financial sustainability regulations mean Newcastle will have to be particularly smart in the transfer market to upset the established order in the years to come, but the Magpies only had to look at Sunday's opponents to realise what can be done with clever investment on and off the field.
It was one thing winning the title in 2016 but Leicester's achievements in the years since are also impressive. Rather than dramatically falling away, Leicester have continued to flourish, whether it is lifting the FA Cup, playing in Europe, pulling off back-to-back fifth-place finishes or building a state of the art training ground.
Newcastle are a long way away from those long-term goals and closing the gap on sides like Leicester will be Howe's next challenge if, as expected, the Magpies stay up this season. While there won't be wholesale changes in the summer - the message coming out of the club is evolution rather than revolution - players will be moved on and replaced.
Howe is making assessments and judgements on his players, and their reactions, after every game and the Newcastle head coach has vowed to be 'ruthless' when required this summer. That is why every game counts for these players to prove they can play their part in this new era and the visit of Leicester was no different.
Given how Leicester only flew back from Eindhoven on Friday, following the Foxes' Europa League Conference win against PSV, this did not feel like the worst time to face Brendan Rodgers' side as the Leicester boss made eight changes. However, that would have been a dangerous trap for Newcastle to fall into.
In the reverse fixture, back in December, after all, the Magpies were hammered 4-0 - just a few days after Leicester's European tie in Naples. This game was going to be a real test of how far Newcastle have come since then after what Howe referred to as a 'difficult day' last December.
"Hopefully, we've become a little bit more resilient since that game and harder to play against, score against and create chances against," he told reporters ahead of Sunday's game. "I'd love to think we have improved, but the reflection of that is always in the performance.
"I can sit here talking about it, but we've got to turn up and show all of those qualities because if we don't, against the attacking players they have, it will be difficult for us."
These attacking players have caused Newcastle issues for years. In fact, you had to go back to 2014 for the last time Newcastle had even defeated Leicester at St James' Park.
However, the visitors had never quite experienced St James' when it is like this. The atmosphere inside the stadium has been transformed since the takeover and you can be sure Ayoze Perez took note on his return to his old stomping ground.
Perez left Newcastle for Leicester in 2019 because the Spaniard rightly feared the club would not move onto the next level following Rafa Benitez' departure. However, that ambition cannot now be in doubt under the new ownership and, interestingly, ChronicleLive understands Perez was even open to a sensational return to Newcastle in the mid-season window if the opportunity had presented itself. It didn't, of course, and this felt like a very different Newcastle to the one Perez left.
Miguel Almiron was among the few former team-mates in the starting line-up - replacing the injured Ryan Fraser - as Howe kept faith with those players who defeated Wolves last time out. Almiron's pace caused Leicester problems from the off and there were just 36 seconds on the clock when Daniel Amartey went into the book after hauling down the Paraguay international as he galloped towards Leicester's box. Jonjo Shelvey stepped up to take the free-kick from just outside the area, but Kasper Schmeichel was equal to it.
Leicester have their own vulnerabilities from these sorts of situations - no other side in the Premier League has conceded more goals from free-kicks and corners - but, ironically, the Foxes ended up taking the lead from a set-piece in the 19th minute. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall's drilled corner was cleverly flicked on by Perez at the near post and there was the unmarked Ademola Lookman to squeeze an effort past Martin Dubravka.
Newcastle folded after going behind in the reverse fixture but after navigating a tricky period in the game this time around, the Magpies equalised on the half-hour mark with a corner kick of their own. While Newcastle's defending for Lookman's opener left a lot to be desired, the Magpies carry a real threat from set-plays themselves.
Jonjo Shelvey's corner was headed on by Dan Burn and Bruno managed to scramble the ball over the line after Kasper Schmeichel spilled the midfielder's initial hooked effort. Although Jarred Gillett disallowed the goal at first for a foul, the referee reversed his decision after consulting the pitchside monitor to send St James' into raptures.
That goal did not necessarily change the game - Leicester continued to dominate possession - but it gave Newcastle renewed belief. In fact, the Magpies could have even taken the lead before the break after Bruno's clipped pass picked out Matt Targett at the back post but the left-back's header was saved by Schmeichel.
It had not been Newcastle's best first-half display of the season, but the players left the field to applause at half-time and those supporters played their part in what was to come after the break as they stuck with their side. Newcastle did not have much of the ball in a game of few clear-cut chances, but Howe's managed to land a knockout blow right at the death as Bruno popped up with a priceless winning goal.
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