Alexander Isak reacted candidly to his stunning strike against Nottingham Forest, but wouldn’t let Sky Sports’ pundits take anything away from it.
The £60million Newcastle record signing put in arguably his best performance since joining in the 2-1 win, scoring both goals to take three points.
A late stoppage time penalty secured the victory, after the Swede won the spot kick when his flick-on struck the hand of Moussa Niakhate.
He had earlier set up Elliott Anderson for a goal with a sublime piece of skill and a cross, but VAR later deemed the headed finish offside.
Before all that, though, he had to get the Magpies back in the game after Emmanuel Dennis’ brilliant opener, and did so in excellent fashion.
Realising Joe Willock’s cross was bending behind him, he athletically hooked his foot back and volleyed the ball past Keylor Navas.
When he was finally shown the goal post-match by Sky Sports, Isak responded honestly and rather amusingly.
“Yeah, that’s a great finish!” he said, to much laughter.
“The ball came a bit behind and I didn’t have time to stop so I just took it on the volley.”
When presenter Kelly Cates asked if the 23-year-old was just trying to get something on the ball or actually control it, he answered brilliantly.
“I tried to finish it, I’m not going to take anything away from myself!”
Jamie Carragher joked: “She’s trying to take it away from you!”
“Yeah I don’t know what’s going on here!” Isak replied. “That’s not trying to get a touch, that’s a finish!”
The goal was Isak’s sixth of the season in ten games during an injury-hit campaign.
The striker was out with a thigh injury for three months, but with his team seemingly dropping off from their top four form, his return looks very timely indeed.
He is now scoring a Premier League goal every 104 minutes, with only Erling Haaland possessing a better rate of players to play ten or more games.
That could prove absolutely crucial in his side’s Champions League push, with Eddie Howe suggesting things will only get better.
“He was brilliant in every aspect,” the manager said. “He’s getting fitter, he’s getting sharper and stronger, the penalty was a really big moment for him.”