‘Devastated’ - Fabian Schar breaks silence on stunning Newcastle United assist

Having gone ahead early on when Jacob Murphy tapped home Tino Livramento’s cross, Newcastle United soon found themselves two ahead as Murphy doubled his tally and doubled his side’s lead. The former Norwich City man again had the easy task of prodding home past Mads Hermansen, but found his second goal, his eighth of the season, rather overshadowed by Schar’s assist.

Having dispossessed his opponent in midfield, the former Swiss international launched an audacious shot from inside his own half to catch Hermansen off his line. Unfortunately for Schar, and the three thousand Newcastle United fans at the King Power Stadium who witnessed the moment in the flesh, the ball ricocheted off the bar, popping out into the penalty area to an unmarked Murphy to score.

Fabian Schar reacts to Leicester City assist

Speaking after the match, Schar was asked about his first thoughts as the ball left his foot: “Hopefully be good!” A gleeful Schar replied.

“Obviously I felt I hit it pretty well and obviously I wanted to be the goalscorer but at least we scored from that situation. It was just instinct in that situation, I saw the keeper was off his line and I hit it well but we scored from that.

“I felt that I hit it pretty well but I thought that it might be too long or just about [right] and obviously when it hit the cross bar I was devastated, but then I was still pretty happy with Murphy scoring the goal. It was a big moment early in the first-half.

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“I don’t even get an assist for that, which is the worst thing! Obviously it would be nice to score but at the end of the day I’m happier about the win and the three points. You don’t practice that in training, it’s just instinct and trusting in my abilities.”

Eddie Howe reacts to Schar’s assist

Unsurprisingly, his head coach was very complimentary about the shot when asked for his reaction in the immediate aftermath of the full-time whistle. “Yeah, again I think it's only something Fabian would see,” Howe responded.

“Maybe a couple of other players might see it but then wouldn't have the technical ability to actually do what he did. I thought it was in actually. I thought he'd judged it just right. Jacob was the beneficiary of that but again another example of him doing something that most centre-halves can't.”

Howe, who has now seen his side win four matches in a row in all competitions, can now look forward to the visit of Manchester United on Sunday knowing that Monday night’s result has put them in a great position to attack Champions League qualification. The Magpies left Leicester sat fifth in the Premier League table behind Chelsea in 4th place only on goal difference.

They also have a game in-hand over all of their main rivals for European qualification, with that coming against Crystal Palace next week.

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