Peter Crouch hailed Anthony Gordon for “one of the best performances this season” in the first 20 minutes of the 2-2 draw between Newcastle and Chelsea.

Prior to facing the Blues, Gordon’s returns in the league had paled in comparison to the Champions League. In six European games this term, Gordon has remarkably scored five goals and assisted two.

In the league, he had just two goals to his name, both coming in December.

And the Newcastlewinger continued his festive form with a stunning start against Chelsea, getting on the end of a delivery into the box in the fourth minute, with his saved effort rebounding to Nick Woltemade for a tap in.

In the 20th minute, Gordonthey sprayed an inch-perfect ball into the path of the German striker, who deftly turned it home.

Later in the first half, Gordon again fizzed a fantastic ball across the box for Woltemade, who could have had a hat-trick had his first-time effort been on target, but he managed to steer it wide of the net.

After the match, pundit Crouch stated Gordon put in: “One of the best performances I’ve seen this season from a player, in the first 20 minutes. They [Newcastle] set the tempo.”

Gordon was the joint-second best-rated player on the pitch, according to SofaScore, putting two shots on target, making two key passes and creating two big chances, one of which led to his assist, making one accurate long ball and being fouled three times.

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He and Newcastle were able to dominate the opening exchanges due to how poor Chelsea were, but Joe Cole felt they turned it around well.

He said: “Any time as poor as it was in the first half, you manage to turn it round as a group, gives you that conviction and belief as a group. You grow from games like these if you take the lessons.

“In the first half there’s a lot of lessons to be learned.”

Both Reece James and Enzo Maresca had admitted that Chelsea were far better in the second half than in the first, but they believed they’d be able to get something out of the game if they got a goal, and James’ free kick was the catalyst to get things back level.

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