Bruno Guimaraes reveals Eddie Howe ‘joke’ after ‘special’ Newcastle United brace v Brentford

Guimaraes scored Newcastle’s opening goal before Jacob Murphy made it 2-0 in the first half. Ivan Toney pulled a goal back for Brentford after the break but Guimaraes restored the hosts’ two-goal advantage shortly after before Miguel Almiron and a Ethan Pinnock own goal completed the comprehensive win.

No United player has scored more goals for the club in 2022 than the Brazilian. And scoring a brace in front of his parents at St James’s Park was a moment he would cherish for the rest of his life.

"I am very pleased,” Guimaraes said after the win. "It's one of the best days of my life.

"To score two goals - which are my first of the season - and Eddie Howe joked with me I wasn't so good with the head!"

Guimaraes’ second goal was a fine individual effort as he won the ball back himself inside Brentford’s half before charging to the edge of the box and finding the bottom left corner.

"My second goal made me really happy,” the 24-year-old added. "It's difficult to speak about best moments but this was special.

"I recovered the ball and went to do a pass. I didn't see anybody though. I thought 'I will just shoot' and it was beautiful. It was important because Brentford scored two minutes before so it was vital.

"My whole family were in the stadium, my son [Matteo] will be born in the next week so it was important for me.

"I'm so grateful. It is one of the best days of my life."

The win saw Newcastle move up to fifth in the Premier League table with 14 points after nine matches. Guimaraes has previously spoken openly about targeting European football with The Magpies but wasn’t getting too far ahead of himself following the encouraging start to the campaign.

He continued: "It's nice. But it is just the beginning – it's so early to speak about it.

"We must think about it game by game. It is nice but we need to keep it going."