Goals from Callum Wilson and Allan Saint-Maximin capped off a successful few days at St James’ Park, as Eddie Howe’s Mags ended pre-season with a 2-1 win over Athletic Bilbao.
Our number nine opened the scoring within five minutes with a calm finish into the far corner, with his goals coming courtesy of some lovely approach play from Saint-Maximin and Matt Ritchie.
The Frenchman then got on the scoresheet himself in the second half, with his side foot finish a well deserved reward for an impressive all round display from the winger.
In truth, we tried in the second half and were fortunate not to concede a second late on – where Athletic Bilbao came on strong – but the performance we put in over the first 45 minutes was a joy to watch at times, being full of energy, quality, quick passing and pressing.
Watch both goals below following today’s 2-1 win on Tyneside:
