Nick Pope Leaves Newcastle Crowd in Awe After Producing Incredible Assist

Newcastle fans were left stunned by Nick Pope producing one of the assists of the season against Benfica on Tuesday night.

The Magpies went 1-0 up against Jose Mourinho's men through Anthony Gordon in the first half, as he tapped home from a Jacob Murphy cross.

Harvey Barnes came off the bench to bag a brace to round off an impressive 3-0 victory, finding the net in the 70th minute and then doubling his tally 13 minutes later.

Gordon set up his second but it was goalkeeper Pope who recorded the sensational assist for Barnes' first effort.

The England goalkeeper had the ball in his clutches in his own box and then, after spotting Barnes darting up the pitch, performed a NFL quarterback-like giant throw right up the pitch and into the opposition half.

After a Benfica defender missed the ball, Barnes latched onto it down the right and slotted home with a fine strike which went in off the post.

While some players went over to celebrate with Barnes, the likes of Dan Burn, Malik Thiaw, Sven Botman and captain Bruno Guimaraes mobbed Pope after his incredible heroics.

The former Burnley shotstopper is not known for his distribution but contributed in a huge way with a throw that was described as "special" and "genuinely unbelievable" by fans online.

"It just sort of opened up and you just take off don't you," Barnes told TNT Sports after being asked if the move was planned.

"He's played a great ball, got a little bit of luck with the defender missing it but when you're in those positions it's just natural instincts to do what you do and finish it. It was a great assist by Popey."

Paying tribute to Pope, Gordon added: "We all love him. He's one of the most popular people in the dressing room. He's a top guy and a top keeper, he kept us in so many games this season and even some of the saves he made it in the first half were incredible so he deserves it."

Pope signed secret contract

As well as his assist, Pope kept a seventh clean sheet this season and did so after it reports emerged that he had penned a contract extension until July 2027.

However, in a press conference ahead of the Benfica clash, Pope revealed that he penned those terms back in 2023 without it coming to light.

“Tough to say [how it feels] because I signed that in July 2023,” Pope admitted.

"So, I was really happy about it then and I'll say my contract's up in July 2027. But yeah, of course, I look forward to spending as long as I can here.

“The club is sort of ever evolving, every transfer window, every few months, whether that's players, new bits around the training ground, just ourselves as a team, I think we've evolved and evolved over that time. And yeah, it's been great to be a part of it.

“You want to be part of it moving forward, really feel like we've got that first trophy under our belt now and we qualified for the Champions League twice and you're kind of looking to do that back to back.”

After three games, Newcastle are seventh in the Champions League table with six points from a possible nine.

Eddie Howe's side return to action on Saturday when they host Fulham in the Premier League as they look to climb the table.