Newcastle United played hosts to Sheffield United at St. James’ Park earlier today hoping to pick up maximum points at home. The Magpies settled into the game quickly but weren’t able to break the Blades’ defence down in the first half.
The visitors suffered a hammer blow in the 50th minute when John Egan was sent off after receiving his second yellow card for dragging Joelinton’s shirt. The Tyneside outfit took full advantage of their numerical advantage and finally made the breakthrough ten minutes into the second half courtesy of Allan Saint-Maximin’s breakaway goal. Matt Ritchie made the points secured with a powerful strike from outside the penalty box in the 69th minute. Just nine minutes later, Joelinton put the icing on the cake with a calm finish from close range.
The contest ended with the Magpies running away with a 3-0 victory against Chris Wilder’s men.
Let’s take a look at how each Newcastle player fared during the clash versus the Blades.
GK: Martin Dúbravka – 7/10
Dubravka was hardly tested by the Sheffield United players and kept a comfortable clean sheet at St. James’ Park.
RB: Javier Manquillo – 7/10
The Spaniard was always willing to get forward and did enough defensively to stop George Baldock from posing a threat.
CB: Jamaal Lascelles – 6/10
The English centre-back commanded his penalty area with authority and conviction but got cautioned in the second half. It was another decent defensive display from him today.
CB: Federico Fernandez – 7/10
Fernandez stepped up and dealt with every danger that came his way. He is proving to be a very reliable defensive option under the stewardship of Steve Bruce.
LB: Danny Rose – 6/10
The English full-back was defensively reliable but lacked the cutting edge in the opposition half. However, it was his unselfish run that opened up space for Ritchie to score the decisive second goal of the match.
RM: Matt Ritchie – 8/10
The Magpies playmaker was always looking to create some decent goal-scoring chances for his teammates. He scored a deserved goal in the 69th minute with his stunning strike from outside the box and was also the one responsible for setting-up Saint-Maximin’s goal early in the second half.
CM: Isaac Hayden – 7/10
He worked his socks off to help Newcastle both with and without the ball in midfield. Hayden got a deserved assist in the second half to show for his efforts.
CM: Jonjo Shelvey – 6/10
The ex-Liverpool midfielder kept the ball moving at the centre of the park but failed to find a killer pass in the final third.
LM: Allan Saint-Maximin – 8.5/10
His pace and agility caused all sorts of problems for the Blades down the left flank. He kept his composure to score the all-important opening goal from a tight angle.
CAM: Miguel Almiron – 7/10
The South American sensation gave plenty of headaches to the Sheffield defenders through his intelligent movement and determination to get forward.
ST: Joelinton – 7/10
The Brazilian striker missed a glorious chance to score in the first 45 but came through for his team in the 78th minute via his calm finish from close range.
Substitutes:
ST: Andy Carroll – 5/10
The English centre-forward struggled to get into the game after coming off the bench.
CM: Nabil Bentaleb – 6/10
He kept the ball moving in midfield.
CB: Fabian Schar – N/A
The Magpies defender did enough to see out the clean sheet.
RM: Valentino Lazaro – N/A
He did not have enough time to make an impact.
RB: DeAndre Yedlin – N/A
The American full-back came on to run the clock down.
