Kieran Trippier impressed as Newcastle United beat Everton 3-1 at St James' Park on Tuesday night with the full-back scoring a free-kick to clinch the victory.
The former Spurs man was Newcastle's first signing since the Saudi-backed consortium bought the club from Mike Ashley - and even at 31, has looked worth every bit of his £12m price tag.
Trippier has provided leadership to the group while bringing quality on the pitch both defensively and offensively.
Social media was awash with plaudits for the England international as well as concern over that Trippier may miss Sunday's clash with Aston Villa having been subbed off against Everton with injury - although Eddie Howe remains positive he'll be okay.
And it's no surprise that Howe and the fans want to see Trippier fighting for the Villa game given his top performance against the Toffees - here are five reasons he stood out.
Restarting the game as quick as possible after Everton scored
As Mason Holgate raced off to celebrate after seeing his effort cross the line off Jamaal Lascelles, the Newcastle captain stood deflated with his hands on his head.
Behind the goal line were Fabian Schar and Matt Targett - tangled in the net with both failing to stop the ball from crossing the line.
Trippier raced straight in with three of his teammates feeling sorry for themselves to grab the ball and get it back to the centre-circle as quick as possible.
Not only that, he pulled both Schar and Targett up from the crowd and relayed some words of encouragement.
It was a moment that summed up his passion and determination to win - a fair assumption could be made that Trippier, as many Newcastle fans felt, if the team didn't switch on and get right back it, Everton may capitalise to add a second.
As it turned out - his race to get the ball proved crucial.
Delivering the cross that led to the equaliser
Trippier raced over to take a corner after Jarrad Branthwaite had got back across to stop Joe Willock from getting in on goal.
The full-back floated the ball into and it was met by Lascelles, who saw his head smashed off the bar and then cross the line via Holgate's thigh.
Newcastle were only behind for just over 100 seconds.
The delivery was superb from Trippier and it reaffirmed another large reason Newcastle brought him in - he's pretty good when it comes to delivery into the box.
Trippier hit five accurate crosses from attempted 10 - to put that into perspective, there was only FOUR more attempted crosses combined from the other 13 players who featured with only one deemed accurate.
The full-back has only played three times for United since his move but already he ranks 6th in the club's list for crosses this season with 19.
A calming influence at the back
Midway through the second half, there was a rare moment of nervousness in the United backline as Trippier was played into trouble via Schar and Lascelles.
As the ball was cannoned off an Everton defender and out for a throw, Trippier turned to his teammates and just urged caution.
Moving his hands in a downward motion, Trippier appeared to be telling the centre-back paring to calm down and not to panic on the ball.
With Newcastle going for a vital win, that sort of leadership was key.
He's not afraid of the fight
With 75 minutes on the clock, Trippier and Everton midfielder Anthony Gordon squared up.
The full-back wasn't happy with the youngster who appeared to leave a foot in on Trippier, the disagreement ran out into the rest of the group.
Saint-Maximin ended up on the floor at Gordon's challenge and Trippier let the Liverpool-born midfielder know exactly what he thought about him.
The stunning free-kick
A person sat next to me in the Leazes End said as Jonjo Shelvey, Matt Targett and Tripper stood over the ball just outside the Everton box - 'it'll be Targett, it's a bit hard for the other two get it up and over.'
As it was, Trippier stepped up and proved that spectator wrong - not that he minded of course.
The ball was whipped around the wall from 25-yards out - sending the team and crowd wild.
It was a big moment for Trippier and the club - a late Everton goal would have set the nerves off, as it was this goal settled Newcastle and handed them a massive victory.
Given Trippier had run himself into the ground and appeared to have played through the pain barrier before being subbed off for Javier Manquillo - it was a test of character to see him step up and take the kick.
