Soccer Football - Premier League - Southampton v Newcastle United - St Mary's Stadium, Southampton, Britain - January 25, 2025 Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe applauds fans after the match REUTERS/David Klein
LONDON (Reuters) - Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe called striker Alexander Isak outstanding on Saturday after his two goals against Southampton put the Sweden international firmly in the race for the Premier League golden boot.
Isak won and scored a penalty in the 26th minute before bagging a second goal four minutes later as he linked up with winger Jacob Murphy once again.
The two goals put Isak on 17 for the season in the league, one behind Manchester City's Erling Haaland and two off Liverpool's Mohamed Salah.
Not since Alan Shearer in the 1996-97 season has a Newcastle player finished as the league's top scorer, but Isak shows few signs of slowing down.
He became the first Newcastle player to find the net in five consecutive away league games at St Mary's on Saturday.
"He's been outstanding this year," Howe said. "Pretty much since day one he's been a regular scorer for us and that's no doubt helped his self belief.
"His general confidence when he enters the pitch seems really high at the moment and that's not a given. You have to earn that through your training."
Isak's penalty on Saturday was coolly dispatched into the bottom left corner, but it was the second goal that showed his real class.
In-form winger Murphy had pushed into midfield and with a laser-guided pass found Isak, whose first touch shifted the ball onto his right foot while his second slotted it into the net off the far post from the middle of the area.
Isak faces stiff competition in the form of Salah, however, whose strike against Ipswich Town on Saturday took him above Thierry Henry to seventh in the list of all-time Premier League scorers on 176.
No-one would write off Haaland, who has consistently found the net despite City's poor form this season and added to his tally with a goal against Chelsea in Saturday's late game.
(Reporting by Harry Robertson; Editing by Ken Ferris)
