Newcastle United's dramatic win against Crystal Palace will have given Nick Pope just a little taste. The goalkeeper repeatedly had his name chanted by supporters and was mobbed by his team-mates after his three saves in the shootout sent the Magpies into the last 16 of the Carabao Cup at St James' Park on Wednesday night. Could you imagine the scenes if Newcastle won a trophy?
Eddie Howe may have made eight changes for the third-round tie, but it was rather telling that the Newcastle boss started his number one for the game. Pope is simply undroppable, even for a game like this, and you can see why.
In truth, Pope proved the difference between the two sides. On a night where Pope had little to do during the course of 90 minutes, the shot-stopper still made a superb stop at his near post midway through the first half to push Jean-Philippe Mateta's venomous effort behind.
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There would have been no guarantees that deputy Loris Karius would have made a similar save or, indeed, that the goalkeeper would have gone on to make three stops in the shootout as Pope did to keep out Luka Milivojevic, Mateta and, finally, Malcolm Ebiowei. That first save from Milivojevic, in particular, seemed to dent Palace players' confidence given what a brilliant penalty taker the Serbian is.
"When you're looking behind the goal, like I was, he's a great size," Howe told reporters after the game. "The first penalty save was right out of the top drawer.
"There was actually a save in the first half that I thought was right out of the top drawer as well so it wasn't just in the penalty shootout, but he has been doing that for us all season. He's a very commanding figure, but he's kept goal with such low fuss. It sort of goes unnoticed what a difference he has made."
Pope has made a difference, all right. No other goalkeeper has kept more clean sheets (six) in the Premier League this season and Pope has played his part in Newcastle having the best defence in the top-flight. When Newcastle could so easily have lost a number of games, after all, Pope made some huge saves to help his side at least earn a point, whether it was, somehow, clawing away Adam Lallana's header at Brighton; tipping Man City superstar Erling Haaland's curling effort onto the post; or keeping Odsonne Edouard's close-range shot out with his feet against Crystal Palace earlier this season.
Although Pope has not been as busy as he was during his time at Burnley, the shot-stopper has still made 41 saves when called upon this season in the league. To put that figure into perspective, only Hugo Lloris, Alisson, Bernd Leno, Dean Henderson, Jordan Pickford and David Raya have been busier.
The proactive goalkeeper has also brought a calmness to the side, whether it is claiming crosses or sweeping up outside his area, and the improvements he has made with his distribution have enabled Newcastle to play out from the back. All for a mere £10m paid in instalments. Yes, Pope really is the cheapest signing Howe has made since taking charge a year ago and the goalkeeper has already paid back that fee with his performances.
It was a ruthless decision for Howe to strengthen his goalkeeping department, when previous number one Martin Dubravka had served the club so well, but it has certainly paid off and you get the sense there is still more to come from Pope. Thirty, after all, is no age for a goalkeeper.
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