"Added so much leadership, experience and composure" - Gary Neville lavishes praise on Arsenal midfielder for his performance against Newcastle

Manchester United icon Gary Neville has named Arsenal midfielder Jorginho as his player of the match against Newcastle United. The Englishman praised the Italy international for his performance against the Magpies.

The Gunners faced Eddie Howe's side at St. James' Park over the weekend (7 May). Mikel Arteta's men put on an impressive performance, resulting in a 2-0 victory.

Martin Odegaard got on the scoresheet in the 14th minute with a sumptuous finish from outside the box assisted by Jorginho. Newcastle centre-back Fabian Schar scored an own goal after Gabriel Martinelli's shot deflected off him into the back of his net in the second half.

Neville lauded Jorginho for his impact on the game in the middle of the park. The former Manchester United defender said on Sky Sports (as quoted by football.london):

"My player of the match is Jorginho. It was so important today for Arsenal. Not just to get closer to Man City but for themselves, to know they can come to a big away game and win, after what happened at Anfield and the Etihad."

He added:

"He's added so much leadership, experience and composure. All day long he’s been demonstrating to the rest of his team-mates what he wants from them and they’ve lacked that in recent weeks."

Neville further stated:

"He was the Player of the Match by a mile today. They’ve been wobbling Arsenal and they were on the ropes at times today but Jorginho has brought calmness and leadership to them just at the right time."

Jorginho has registered 11 appearances for the Gunners since joining from Chelsea.

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"It’s a massive win" - Jorginho shares thoughts after Arsenal's 2-0 win over Newcastle

Following the encounter, Jorginho was full of praise for his side's performance against the Magpies. The Italian midfielder lauded his team for their ability to tough it out in the grueling encounters amidst a heated title race against Manchester City.

The former Chelsea star said (as quoted by The Mirror):

"The most important thing is that we go home with three points, as we wanted. We know this league, we know we can't win every game playing beautiful football.

"I am really pleased to see that our team can play these type of games and understand it is not always possible to just go through with passes. Sometimes you need to fight. I am proud to see us fight to the end."

Jorginho added:

"This atmosphere is so beautiful. It motivates us to play and gives us fire inside. I have played a few [big games] before. We dream this as a kid and now it is time to enjoy it, it is beautiful. It’s a massive win."

Arsenal are currently second in the Premier League table, one point behind league leaders Manchester City. The Cityzens, however, have a game in hand over the Gunners.

It remains to be seen whether Arsenal can overcome the reigning English champions to lift the title for the first time since the iconic 2003-04 campaign.