While Dwight Gayle has quite clearly been one of the pillars upon which Rafa Benitez has built his Championship title tilt at Newcastle United on, the Magpies today proved there is life without their 20-goal forward.
Indeed, even without a certain Aleksandar Mitrovic, the Toon Army marched to a resounding 4-0 win over Rotherham today as they returned to the top of the second-tier. With both star strikers out of the meeting with the Millers, it was easy to fear the worst, particularly considering the wealth of injuries throughout the side.
However, both Ayoze Perez and Daryl Murphy managed to get themselves on the scoresheet today, with the latter in particular proving his worth by notching a crucial opener deep into the first-half. Matt Ritchie bagged a brace, with Jonjo Shelvey laying on another passing masterclass, so it’s all happy families right now.
Following the thumping, Gayle took to Twitter to praise his teammates.
Great win at home some quality goals
— dwight gayle (@dwightgayle) January 21, 2017
