Gabriel Obertan

Gabriel Obertan admitted that his first goal in black and white was a weight off his shoulders, and hopes that it will help him to 'unlock his potential' and score many more.

The former Manchester United winger netted in injury time as Newcastle won 2-0 at Blackburn on Wednesday night - moments after coming on as a substitute at Ewood Park.
With the home side piling on the pressure as they searched for an equaliser, he could barely have picked a better time to end his 21-game barren streak for the Magpies.

And when he spoke to nufc.co.uk after emerging from a vibrant dressing room, the Paris-born 22-year-old revealed that the long wait for his first goal had been beginning to play on his mind.

"A bit, a bit," he confessed. "I'm an offensive player so it's important to make assists or to score.
"So I wanted to score and I'm pleased with it, but hopefully I can unlock all my potential and maybe I can score a bit more.
"I'm really pleased. I'm pleased for the team as well but personally, I've been looking for that goal for so long.
"In the last three or four games, I've not played and I was a bit frustrated, so it's just great to score to seal the win at the end of the game.

"They were trying and trying really hard to get a goal so it was great to score."
Obertan siezed possession inside his own half before exchanging passes with Peter Lovenkrands and bearing down on goal, his pace taking him clear and allowing him to finish cooly past Paul Robinson in front of the Newcastle fans in the Darwen End.

And he explained: "By then the game was really open, so I just gave him (Lovenkrands) the ball and ran to give him a solution, to give him an option.

"I just kept running and the finish was quite difficult actually, because I had a lot of time so you've got plenty of things going through your mind.

"It was quite hard but I was lucky on this one and it's a great feeling. I've not scored much but when you score and you've got your fans in front of you, it's just unbelievable."

The win took United up to fifth in the table but also means they're just one point short of the 40 generally required to guarantee Barclays Premier League safety.

So with that all but assured, the winger - accustomed to challenging at the top end of the league during his days at Old Trafford - is aiming high.

"We've gone two points above Arsenal now and hopefully we can win this weekend and get three more points," he said.

"We're quite sure we're going to stay in the Premier League and that's great.
"Hopefully we can get more points between now and the end of the season and maybe go up one more place or stay fifth.

"If you would have said at the beginning of the season that we'd be up in fifth in February, I think we would have signed straight away so it's a great feeling at the moment - and hopefully we can keep the momentum."

From the NUFC.co.uk

Was really nice to see him score, even though this now means i have to drink a triple shot of absinthe.
Which i'm not looking forward to! :/

Hopefully, he will go on to big things with the goal and his confidence will sky rocket!

Anyways, looking massively forward to the weekend to see the two Dembas.

 

As soon as he came on I said he was going to score the clincher and now I owe quite a few people lottery numbers for this weekend!

He's much better used as a sub late on though. That's when his pace really makes the difference. Attack and just general closing down.

 

I agree. Make him an impact sub please Pards.

 

hows he doing since we sold him to you,hope he does well in the future anyway


PS OP she should be on the sexy poll

 

Mostly awful.

Hopefully the goal can give him a load of confidence.

Absinthe, love that drink! Got 5 bottles behind me

 

"I'm an offensive player"

Too right, you offend me every time you pull a toon top on.

Good finish for the goal yesterday but he is still ****e.

 

Really not looking forward to that absinthe i must say!

 

Yeah she should be in the sexy poll, or at least be my girlfriend.

 

The bet i made was so stupid aswell, my mates aren't going to let me get away with not doing it either.

When he came on, i had that same feeling.

When he was through on goal, i had split feelings, i wanted him to score and build his confidence but on another i was wishing he would somehow get a corner.... One of my friends posted on my Facebook, with just the word ABSINTHE as soon as the ball hit the net. :/

 

Bit of an over reaction? He's had some good games for us this season and that was a really well taken goal last night. Admittedly he's had some very poor games this season but who hasn't? Ba took a few games to get going, Tiote was awful at the start of the season, Ben Arfa is inconsistent. Anyway hopefully this goal will give him the confidence to push on this season and start really challenging Ben Arfa for the RW spot.

 

He's the next Thierry Henry

 

tits

 

I think he's one of those players who once he has the confidence to shoot will become pretty decent. We all know he's got pace to burn and is very tricksy and if he can get over his bad habits I think we'll have a good player on our hands.

As it stands I agree with the people saying he should be an impact sub, if he can add team play to his disruptive runs then I think he can be a game winner, musn't forget he's still quite young.

 

I'd like to see ober moved to a more central attacking role, because he just can't cross to save his life and is wasted on the wing. i would use him when either Ba or Cisse look tired so he can come on and run against the defenders that are getting tired.

 

If I was Pardew I'd be quite tempted to turn the lad into a striker, I was pleasantly surprised at how coolly he slotted that home last night, on the run, and it just seemed to come quite natural to him. Keep him as an impact sub but use him around 70 minutes in place of Ba or Cisse. He can't be much worse than Shola can he!

 

I strongly concur, and respectfully admire them.