Neville thinks Jorginho went full-Paul Scholes against Newcastle

Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville believes Jorginho's recent performance for Arsenal against Newcastle had all the ingredients of Paul Scholes' class.

Jorginho delivered a man-of-the-match display at St James' Park as Arsenal kept their Premier League title hopes alive with a hard-fought 2-0 victory.

Arsenal say it ain't over yet: Gunners survive a rampage at St James' Park

"The selection of Jorginho was critical," Neville, now pundit, told the Gary Neville Podcast.

"It was brave from Mikel Arteta and the right decision. Obviously, he played him in midweek, but the easy thing would have been to look at the energy and physicality of Newcastle's midfield and go and fight like for like with [Thomas] Partey.

"No-one passes brilliantly at Newcastle. They are a fantastic defensive team, but Jorginho was a massive difference.

"I say Paul Scholes is the best I've ever played with, and there was an example of what he used to do out on the pitch at Newcastle.

"In the most difficult atmospheres, in the most tense part of the season, against the most tenacious opposition, when it's the most difficult and everyone else wants to lump it up the pitch, who's going to get on the ball, take it when it's tight, poke it through midfield, get yourself into an attacking shape so that you can actually set off your attacking patterns, and do that religiously and repetitively through those kinds of games?

"At Manchester United, that man was Paul Scholes. He did it for 15 years. What we saw from Jorginho at Newcastle was a class performance, a real class performance. Partey had shown some nerves and some edginess in the last few matches when the team needed composure, and I thought Jorginho demonstrated what you really do need when it's really at its toughest.

"Arsenal were under significant pressure, I thought it was going to be far too much for them, and I thought Jorginho was the difference for them, along with Odegaard, the two players with the most technical ability in that team. The two in midfield, Odegaard and Jorginho, won that game for Arsenal."