Summary: Southampton - Newcastle 4:1 (Sport1)
In May, Jack Grealish released an unsuccessful joke that quickly turned into a joke precisely at his expense.
When he wanted to poke fun at his colleague Riyad Mahrez's particularly poor performances, the Manchester City midfielder declared that he played "like Almiron", referring to the apparent lack of purpose of Newcastle's Paraguayan midfielder Miguel Almiron.
Now many journalists and fans don't stop mocking Grealish.
"I wish he himself was able to play like Almiron," they say, and the entire network is full of statistical comparisons between the two that look quite ridiculous after a month in which the Paraguayan competed against Erling Holland.
Almiron's magical October began with a spectacular goal against Fulham that was just chosen as the beautiful goal of the month.
He completed a brace in a 4-1 win, then stole a ball into the Brentford defense and scored in a 5-1, was the winner of a spectacular 1-0 tie at Everton, stunned by slaloming through the entire Tottenham defense to win 2-1 in London, And Kinah with a fantastic spinning kick in 0:4 against Aston Villa.
He had six goals in six games, and only in the 0:0 draw against Manchester United was his name not recorded on the board - it was also the only game in which his team failed to win as part of the rush to the top.
Silenced Grealish, and all critics.
Almiron (Photo: Reuters)
November also opened with the right foot, or rather with Almiron's formidable left foot, which cut through the Southampton defense and scored the first goal in the away victory 1:4.
Add to that the 3:3 draw against Manchester City itself at the beginning of the season, and you get eight league goals for Newcastle's number one player, who managed to completely forget the lack of the two injured stars who are supposed to provide the goals - Alexander Isak and Alain Saint-Maximin.
Instead of suffering problems in attack in their absence, the complete opposite has happened, and this phenomenon is even more impressive when you remember that Almiron has scored nine league goals since arriving in the Premier League in January 2019 until last summer.
It took him almost a year to break his personal drought after being signed from Atlanta United as the most expensive signing in Newcastle's history at the time, and the most expensive player to leave MLS.
Expectations from him were high, because in America he was a real superstar who dominated the center of the pitch, guided most of the moves, and scored 13 goals himself on the way of the attractive Atlanta to the championship in 2018.
Argentinian coach Tata Martino, who built this team, asked him to try to threaten more from all ranges - and he paid off.
But at Newcastle this specific aspect of his talent was not at all manifested for a very long time.
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All the coaches who worked with him complimented him.
Almiron and Howe (Photo: GettyImages, Stu Forster)
This does not mean that the audience and the professional staff were disappointed with him.
Almiron won the hearts of the fans from the first moment with the graceful smile that simply cannot be ignored, and was praised by all his coaches for his exceptional work performance.
Rafa Benitez, who is responsible for bringing him, was satisfied with his quick acclimatization.
Steve Bruce, who succeeded him in the summer of 2019, claimed: "Miguel is a tremendous footballer. In all my 20 years on the lines, I have not seen someone who burns areas like him and plays with his intensity."
Eddie Howe, who replaced Bruce during last season, said similar things: "Almiron's work ethic is exceptional. When we lose the ball, he runs so much that it's like we're playing with a numerical advantage."
But what about the goals and assists?
It was missing, and the problem led both to Grealish's joke, to Newcastle looking for a new acquisition on the right wing during the summer, and to the fact that the club did not in principle rule out the sale of Almiron to Everton.
In the end, he remained in the Northeast, the intended replacement did not arrive, and the plug was finally released.
Bruce Gers further stated at the end of 2019: "As soon as Miguel starts to conquer, he will do it a lot."
That prophecy was fulfilled more than two years later, after the disgraced manager had already left, and Eddie Howe now takes some of the credit for the long-awaited turnaround.
He forgot the wounded and returned to your smile.
Almiron and San Maximilian (Photo: Reuters)
The current coach, who highly valued Almiron even when he worked at Bournemouth, did a thorough job in the summer, watching all the goals the Paraguayan scored in the Atlanta United uniform, and gave him practical advice that should help bring his special skills to a better expression.
Instead of the natural tendency to stick to the wing during attacks, Almiron is required to cut wide, with and without the ball.
Since he has developed tactical senses, the new approach allowed him to reach hatching positions, and with food comes appetite.
Almiron is a virtuoso by nature, and only needs self-confidence to try beautiful and unexpected moves.
It happens now with phenomenal frequency, and even the neutral fans don't want it to stop, because it's fun to watch stars like him.
He deserves it, and Almiron knows how to wait patiently and overcome obstacles.
As a child, he was not admitted to the Academy of Olympia Asuncion because he was considered too thin and physically weak, and this was also the reason because he was almost expelled from the school of Cerro Fortinho.
When he was told that he had no chance of making soccer a profession, he considered going to work at the supermarket where his mother worked as a cashier, but a dense conversation with his parents re-inforced his faith.
The youth coach agreed to give him another chance, and suddenly there was a radical upgrade in his ability.
In a short time he was already integrated into the seniors, and worked his way into the team after discouraging periods on the bench.
He always had perseverance, and a smile never hurt.
When he moved to the Argentinian Lanos at the age of 21, the president of the club gave him the nickname "Paraguayan Angel Di Maria".
"He thinks I look like him and play like him. It's a great honor to be compared to such a star, and I think it's also a bit exaggerated, but I dream of reaching his level," Almiron said at the time.
His main ambition was to reach River Plate and wear the shirt of Alilo Enso Francescoli - the man who at the time also ignited the imagination of Zinedine Zidane.
It didn't happen, but Lanos made a nice buck when she sold him to Atlanta in early 2017, and two years later he made his way to England on the standard of the fresh champion of the United States.
And maybe the rise was less rapid in Newcastle, but now his moment has come to become a star in every sense of the word.
Chelsea is waiting again.
Almiron vs. Jorginho (Photo: GettyImages, Clive Mason)
And there is something exciting about the fact that Newcastle's leading and positive player in the era of Saudi money is actually a relic from the previous era.
Almiron was not bought with dirty money, and you can't blame him for coming to the club to enjoy a huge salary.
He fell in love with him before, and this connection is fun.
Now he could be the face of the team in their attempt to qualify for the Champions League, if this momentum is maintained.
In terms of the chances of maintaining continuity personally, Almiron will definitely benefit from the fact that his team did not qualify for the World Cup - even if he is not necessarily happy about it.
It would have been better to continue the regular season without the Qatari nuisance, but on the other hand, a rest of more than a month will not hurt him, and he may return to fighting at the top fresh and refreshed at the end of December.
Before leaving for the break, the task is to maintain third place, and the challenge on Saturday (7:30 p.m., Sport1) is not easy - Chelsea are coming to St. James Park.
Will the Paraguayan Di Maria's streak of conquests continue against the Blues?
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