Newcastle United defeat Bournemouth in FA Cup 3rd Round
Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa started together for the first time since their summer arrivals at Newcastle United.
It has taken over half a season, but Newcastle United’s £120million attacking partnership was finally unleashed on Saturday at St James’ Park.
The FA Cup third round clash against AFC Bournemouth saw Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa start together for the first time in black-and-white. It was also the first time the pair had even been on the same pitch together despite getting regular minutes over the past month.
Woltemade joined Newcastle for £65million from VfB Stuttgart in the summer, shortly before Wissa’s £55million deadline day arrival from Brentford. But a serious knee injury picked up by Wissa days after signing ruled him out for three months, leaving Woltemade to lead the line on his own with limited back-up.
The German ultimately delivered with nine goals to his name so far this season, with only Harvey Barnes - fresh from his braces against Bournemouth and Leeds United - scoring more for The Magpies.
Wissa has also contributed two goals since his return from injury and came close to grabbing another early on against The Cherries after some good link-up play with Woltemade.
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Newcastle United unleash £120m attacking duo
After weeks of calls from supporters, Newcastle started with Wissa leading the line and Woltemade supporting him in a slightly deeper role. It initially looked to be an inspired decision to start the pair together as Woltemade slipped in Wissa ealry on but the former Brentford man was denied by a good save from Djordje Petrovic in the Bournemouth goal.
There were positive signs from starting the pair together, no less so than Woltemade’s clever through ball to release Barnes for the opening goal of the tie.
But Wissa’s influence on the game was ultimately limited to his early chance and another that went begging toward the end of the first half.
And head coach Eddie Howe stopped short of giving the Woltemade/Wissa experiment a positive review following the match.
“It was okay,” Howe admitted. “I think there were some good bits and there were some bits that maybe weren't so good.
“I think it's only when I review the game that I can really, truly give my opinion. I wanted to do it in a game that I felt tactically would benefit us.
“I felt that was the game today to try that. I want the option to sort of go to it in running in a game at some stage. I don't necessarily see it being a regular for us, as in a regular starting system. But who knows?
“If it worked really well, then, of course, the chances of that would go up. But I thought both players tried to make it work to the best of their ability.
“And I thought Nick was particularly impressive with what he gave the game physically, having played all the minutes.”
Big Man City selection hint dropped
Howe’s assessment and the fact Woltemade played 120 minutes while Wissa only played 70 drops a big hint over how Newcastle will set up in an attacking sense on Tuesday night against Manchester City.
Wissa looks likely to lead the line for the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg as The Magpies continue their trophy defence.
It was the semi-final second leg last season where Howe revealed a surprise line-up featuring five defenders and just two central midfielders against Arsenal at St James’ Park. But it was a plan that worked brilliantly as Newcastle claimed a 4-0 win on aggregate to progress through to the Carabao Cup final, where they beat Liverpool 2-1.
“I've had a couple of questions where people think we play the same way every game and nothing could be further from the truth,” Howe added. “We have a game plan for every single game and those game plans are different than they have to be because the opponents are so different.
“So, we have loads of different ways of going. One of them has always been 4-4-2, sort of off the ball, has always been something we've liked to play with when they were fit.
“Alex [Isak] and Callum [Wilson] did it a number of times for us. So, it's not a foreign system for us. Joe Willock's played that way with one of the available strikers this season.
“So, it's always an option and you need as many options as you can in a long season.”
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