Steve Bruce reveals the 'beauty' of Emil Krafth at Newcastle United

Krafth opened the scoring in last night's 4-3 defeat to Manchester City with a powerful header from a Jonjo Shelvey corner.

The strike was the 26-year-old defender’s first for the club since his move from Amiens in the summer of 2019.

Krafth, a right-back, had been recalled a week earlier to play in central defence against Leicester City following the loss of Fabian Schar to suspension – and the Sweden international kept his place for the City game.

“The beauty of him is the versatility, so he can do it,” said United head coach Bruce.

“He’s done it, and he does it comfortably. Great to see him score a goal. I think he’s adapted to us.

"What he does give that position is pace in that area, which is important when you’re outside of a centre-back. I’m pleased with the versatility. He’s a great pro. He’ll never, ever let you down, so I’m pleased for him that he’s got his first goal in England.”

Newcastle twice led against Pep Guardiola’s side, who were given a guard of honour before the game after clinching the title earlier in the week.

“We’re delighted to score three times against them – that doesn’t happen to any team very often – but the one thing we needed to do to be brutally honest, we needed to defend better,” said Bruce.

“We took the lead a couple of times, so we needed to defend better, but they’re such a good side – it’s remarkable how good they are. It was just disappointing that we didn’t take anything from it.”

On-loan Arsenal midfielder Joe Willock tucked away the rebound after having a penalty saved by Scott Carson to take his goal tally for the club to six.

And Bruce reiterated his desire to keep the 21-year-old at St James's Park after the game, which left Newcastle 16th in the Premier League with two games left to play.

"We have to respect that Joe is Arsenal's player, but if it's possible we'd love to keep him,” said Bruce.

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