Newcastle United fell to a draw against Chelsea in the Premier League after blistering into a two-goal lead after just 20 minutes. Nick Woltemade was the one who scored the goals.
Woltemade, 23, has been something of a revelation since joining from Stuttgart for a £69m fee toward the end of the summer transfer window, and his recent brace at St. James’ Park has taken his tally to nine, with two assists, across 23 appearances.
Anthony Gordon impressed, and Lewis Miley put in a Paolo Maldini-esque performance at right-back, so says pundit Joe Cole.
But it was more points dropped for Eddie Howe’s side, who are 11th in the standings with one win from four.
Where Newcastle went wrong against Chelsea
No side have dropped more points, 13, from winning positions than Newcastle this season. It’s not good enough, and Howe reflected that in his post-match interview, cutting a frustrated figure as he lamented the failure to maintain their first-half dominance.
The manager was hopeful though, as Newcastle showed off plenty of positives. Still, it’s concerning, especially as Sofascore data records that the Magpies only created a total of 0.29 xG after the break.
Jacob Ramsey left much to be desired, creating only one chance across the afternoon. The £42.5m summer recruit from Aston Villa was involved in only one defensive action besides.
However, he worked industriously and will hope to build on a solid, if unspectacular display. Unfortunately, though, it was another bad day in the office for a fellow summer signing from the Premier League.
Howe must drop Newcastle flop
Anthony Elanga has not impressed since joining Newcastle from Nottingham Forest for a £55m fee in August. Analyst Raj Chohan rather scathingly called the pacy winger “a massive overpay” on PIF’s part.
While the 24-year-old did not start the draw against Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea, his 20-minute-or-so cameo did not do the struggling wideman any favours, unable to match Jacob Murphy’s energy and crispness on the ball when he replaced him after 70 minutes.
In fact, Elanga is unfortunately entering concerning territory, with Hoewe sure to limit his opportunities going forward, given Newcastle are not receiving bang for their buck and it is inhibiting them.
Elanga wasn’t on the field for a very long time, but he still failed to impress to a degree that may now fill in Howe a cutthroat decision to drop the Swedish winger entirely.
He took only 11 touches and completed only three passes, suffering five unsuccessful touches and failing to create a chance, win a duel or complete his one attempted cross, data via Sofascore. Elanga fired off one shot and it went wide when he should have squared it.
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Chohan was at it again with the criticism, singling Elanga out after his cameo. He said, “Elanga’s decision-making continues to look very poor. Should’ve won it with a simple pass across in that last counter-attack but went for goal himself.”
Elanga’s Last Two Premier League Seasons
Stats (* per game)
24/25
25/26
Matches (starts)
38 (31)
17 (7)
Goals
6
0
Assists
11
1
Shots (on target)*
1.1 (0.6)
0.5 (0.2)
Pass completion
78%
79%
Key passes*
1.3
0.5
Big chances created
9
1
Succ. dribbles*
0.7 (39%)
0.2 (17%)
Ball recoveries
2.3
0.9
Tackles + interceptions*
0.7
0.5
Duels (won)*
3.0 (45%)
1.5 (33%)
Data via Sofascore
Chronicle Live did hand Elanga a 6/10 match rating after some ‘powerful runs’, but he did not impress, with that blundered shot at goal summing his struggles on Tyneside.
Perhaps his time will come soon, but it’s clear that Elanga cannot start for Newcastle any time soon and must instead make more of his opportunities from the bench.
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