These Newcastle fans were delighted with Fabian Schar’s performance vs Burnley

Newcastle United travelled to Turf Moor last night on the back of two straight victories in the Premier League, and they made it a hat-trick of wins in a fixture which delivered far more excitement than was predicted prior to kick-off.

The Toon Army were sent into delirium inside four minutes as Federico Fernandez’s long-range effort was deflected beyond Joe Hart and into the top corner of the net.

And things got even better for the travelling side just nineteen minutes later, when Ciaran Clark scored a brilliant headed goal with a deft flick to guide Matt Ritchie’s cross into the net.

Newcastle generally dominated the ball and troubled Burnley with their new-look formation, with a back-three of Clark, Fernandez and Fabian Schar standing firm and providing an unlikely source of creativity through the latter.

Indeed, the 47-cap Switzerland international played as something of a deep-lying playmaker, particularly in the first-half, spraying long diagonals into the channels and into wide positions at every available opportunity.

Although Schar was signed for his defensive solidity, his eye-catching performance with the ball at his feet hints that Benitez may have a secret weapon to exploit this season, and the supporters were certainly impressed by what they saw.

Defensively Schar was in impressive form in the new-look back-three, and the success they enjoyed suggests Benitez’s fresh approach could be a sign of things to come this season.

Here’s what the Magpies faithful had to say about Schar’s performance last night…

https://twitter.com/tomb01o/status/1067171916669222914

Fernandez and Schar are unreal!! Lascelles and lejeune have got a fight on their hands to get back in the side #nufc

— carl richardson (@Carl_TFTG) November 26, 2018

https://twitter.com/AndyForrester1/status/1067163176180084736

https://twitter.com/Daniel_Pontius/status/1067163131221204992

Schàr's range of passing is brilliant #nufc #ToonArmy

— Stuart23M (@StuartAM23) November 26, 2018

Fabian Schar – the best ball playing defender (in terms of passing at least) outside the top six? His vision and ability is something else. #NUFC #BURNEW

— Russell Edge (@RussellEdgeNCL) November 26, 2018