Newcastle winger Jonas Gutierrez believes Hatem Ben Arfa's goal against Blackburn will give him the confidence to push on.
Newcastle winger hails fellow goal-scorer after fantastic equaliser
Newcastle winger Jonas Gutierrez believes Hatem Ben Arfa's goal against Blackburn will give him the confidence to push on.
Ben Arfa has been largely restricted to a series of cameo appearances from the bench since finally shaking off the after-effects of the double leg fracture he suffered in October 2010, much to his own very obvious frustration.
However, having been handed his chance by manager Alan Pardew on Saturday, he scored the equaliser as the Magpies went onto earn a last-gasp FA Cup third round win, which was achieved without key pair Demba Ba and Cheick Tiote, who were both away on African Nations Cup duty.
Gutierrez said: "There was a lot of pressure on him because he has not played as much as he would have wanted.
"He wants to play more, so it was important for his confidence.
"We need all the players now more than ever. We don't have Cheick and Demba, so we need all the players focused, so it is really good for him to get the confidence."
Mesmeric run
Picking up the ball midway inside the Blackburn half, Ben Arfa set off on a mesmeric run which left midfielders and defenders alike trailing in his wake before a final shimmy took him past Martin Olsson and allowed him to blast a close-range shot past keeper Mark Bunn.
Pardew later described the goal as the best he had ever witnessed in person, although Gutierrez, an international colleague of Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi, was more measured when asked to compare the two men.
He said: "Lionel Messi, we know what he does. I don't want to speak about him because he is something different.
"He is one or two steps above other players. Training with him is unbelievable.
"But Hatem has really good skill. Here in the English league, it is more physical and when there is contact, you don't always get the free-kick, so he has to learn about that."
Pardew delight
Pardew was delighted to see the France international repay his faith in such spectacular style - the new manager made the loan signing's move permanent in January last year without having seen him kick a ball - and challenged him to reach new heights in the weeks ahead.
He said: "He's had a tough time with that injury, a terrible injury, and we are trying to get the balance right with him.
"He needs to show a little bit more intensity when the opposition have the ball, but if he balances it out with the impact he had in the second half, then he won't need to defend so we won't need to worry about it.
"He was sensational in the second half."
If Ben Arfa claimed the headlines, it was Gutierrez who proved the Magpies' match-winner when, in the fifth minute of added time, he exchanged passes with Leon Best and lifted the ball over Bunn.
He said: "Of course I am happy to score, but I enjoyed more that the team won because it is a special competition for us."
