Eddie Howe's Newcastle United side fell to a disappointing defeat on Saturday afternoon, with Liverpool running out 1-0 winners at St James' Park.

The Magpies had some of their own chances, but if it were not for Martin Dubravka's highly impressive display between the sticks, the scoreline may well have made much worse reading, with the 33-year-old making a whopping nine saves throughout the match.

However, despite the result, it was not only the Slovakia international who turned in an impressive display for Newcastle against the Reds, with Matt Targett being "on point again" - in the words of Jamie Carragher - against Jurgen Klopp's side.

Targett impressed for Newcastle

Indeed, over his 90 minutes on the pitch, the 26-year-old was imperious in a defensive capacity, making three clearances, one interception and six tackles, blocking one shot and winning eight of his 12 duels - a success rate of 67%.

While the £35k-per-week talent did not offer much going forwards - a story which was consistent throughout the majority of the Magpies side - he still had 62 touches of the ball (the second-most for Newcastle) while also completing 21 passes and two long balls.

These returns saw the £15.3m-rated left-back earn an impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.2, ranking him as Howe's joint second-best performer on the day behind Dubravka. The Chronicle's Lee Ryder also awarded the defender an eight in his own player ratings, in addition to stating: "A solid display with half a dozen successful tackles. Did well."

Indeed, from this performance, it is easy to see why the 44-year-old Magpies boss is reportedly eager to make Targett's temporary stay at St James' Park a permanent one this summer, as the former England under-21 international has already proven himself to be a key part of Howe's first-team squad since his January arrival.

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