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Matty Hewitt

Nick Pope on Alexander Isak's wizardry and why Newcastle are seeing the best of the Swedish striker

Nick Pope says Alexander Isak was like a wizard with his moment of individual brilliance in Newcastle United's fourth goal at Goodison Park in midweek. The Magpies would run out 4-1 winners to take a step closer to Champions League football, with Isak showing why he deserves to be playing in Europe's elite competition.

The Swedish striker came off the bench for a late cameo, with Everton scoring to make it 3-1 approaching the final few minutes of the game. Sean Dyche's side were pushing for a winner, but the Magpies record transfer signing went on a mazy run down the left hand side, starting just inside the Everton half and getting right down to the byline, before setting up Jacob Murphy for a tap in.

Isak was denied the official assist given his cutback took a slight deflection, which seems harsh given just how special his run was right in front of the travelling Toon Army.

READ MORE: 'Start dreaming of Madrid' - The national media verdict on Newcastle United's 4-1 win over Everton

When asked what the players had made of Isak's brilliant run in training this week, Pope told Sky Sports: "Yeah, it's hard to explain I think. It just looked like he did what he wanted. Like a wizard.

"It was an amazing moment for him and right in front of the away fans down that side. It was a real special moment for him and a special bit of play.

"He does that most days in training and it's not good for me. He's obviously had the spell out injured this year and he's come back and got himself in a great position physically.

"We've seen in training for many months how good he is, now we're seeing glimpses of that at Brentford, Tottenham. He's a top player.

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