Howe reminded of Burn's EFL Cup final heroics with superb header in Newcastle win over Athletic

Eddie Howe was reminded of Dan Burn's goal in the EFL Cup final against Liverpool with his marvellous header in Newcastle United's 2-0 Champions League win over Athletic Bilbao.

The towering centre-back met Kieran Trippier's deep free-kick on the run and curled a thumping header past Unai Simon to get Newcastle up and running in the first half at St. James' Park.

Joelinton doubled the lead by nodding in from Harvey Barnes' dinked cross early in the second period as Newcastle made it three wins from four matches in the league phase.

Burn has now scored two Champions League goals, both via his head. He is only the third Newcastle player to score multiple headers in the competition, along with Alan Shearer and Faustino Asprilla (two each).

Moreover, 55% of his Newcastle goals have been assisted by Trippier (5/9), all of which have been headers. The latter has now assisted nine goals in the Champions League, the third-most by an English defender after Ashley Cole (12) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (11).

Burn has proven a big-time player for Newcastle and was also on target for their memorable EFL Cup triumph over Liverpool last season, with Howe thinking back to that moment after his goal against Athletic.

Speaking to TNT Sports, Howe said: "It was very reminiscent of the cup final, wasn't it? 

"A header from distance, a training ground move, so well done to all the coaches involved with that."

Joelinton has now scored in two of his last four starts for Newcastle in Europe's premier competition, having only scored once in his first 12 career starts in major European tournaments.

Howe said he is looking for more goals from his midfield and attackers moving forward.

"Joelinton needs to score. He's always been a scorer of big goals for us," he added.

"We've worked on him arriving late in the box and using his strength from aerial crosses. We need our eights and wide men to start chipping in."

Newcastle have racked up three straight Champions League wins, form which contrasts sharply with their domestic results, where a 3-1 loss at West Ham last time out left them 13th in the Premier League standings.

"I'm really pleased with [the win]. It was an important response to West Ham," Howe said.

"We had a quick turnaround for this game. I don't think it was us at our best, but we're in a good position now in this competition.

"Across the board, it's [about] consistency in our performance wherever we play. Now we go away in the Champions League. Marseille away will be incredibly difficult."