Newcastle United have now fallen foul to four Premier League defeats on the spin, having come unstuck 1-0 away to Arsenal on Saturday evening.
It was far from a free-flowing performance from the Gunners, but the Arsenal fans watching on would have taken whatever victory their team could get their hands on, with the North London giants temporarily back to the top of the Premier League table.
Eze
Eddie Howe's low-on-confidence side occupies an unsatisfactory 14th spot, in stark contrast, with question marks surrounding the long-standing Magpies manager's future at the club not lifting, after the uninspired trip to the Emirates.
There were several underperformers for the away side that let the travelling Toon masses down, as Howe and Co's search for a first Premier League win since the middle of March stretches on.
Newcastle's key underperformers vs Arsenal
There were some strong performers for the out-of-sorts visitors, before we delve deeper into those who let the team down.
newcastle-arsenal-premier-league
Indeed, Sven Botman and Malick Thiaw stood firm in defence to thwart both Kai Havertz and Viktor Gyokeres, with a valiant 11 duels won by the determined centre-back pairing.
Unfortunately, though, neither the German, nor his centre-back teammate, could stop Eberechi Eze's exceptional thunderbolt from breaking the deadlock, as the ex-Crystal Palace midfielder's strike was a worthy match-winner.
If you had to nit-pick, you could say that Josh Murphy should try and close down the magical number ten, before he unleashes a fine shot at Nick Pope, with the number 23 also lacklustre in the attacking positions throughout.
Indeed, the flat winger would fail to register a single shot at the home side's goal, fail to register an accurate cross, and fail to amass a single successful dribble, with Howe's decision to bring him off on the 66th-minute mark, hardly a tough call.
Jacob-Murphy
Dan Burn was also ropey down the flanks, when trying to shut down Noni Madueke, with the decision to bring the experienced number 33 into the starting XI a perplexing one, considering Lewis Hall made up a spot on the substitutes bench.
Howe went bold with several of his team selections, as he started ex-Sheffield United striker Will Osula as his main attacking focal point at the Emirates.
Will-Osula
Only accumulating 12 touches all match, Osula was isolated throughout, but the decision to start him, ahead of Nick Woltemade, is a damning indictment on how far the mighty has fallen at St James' Park in such a short space of time.
However, one Magpies flop made Woltemade look like a good signing, still, with his wasteful display in North London...
Newcastle star is making Woltemade look like a good signing
Newcastle haven't always struck gold, when looking over some of their most expensive signings.
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Alexander Isak, despite his sour exit to Liverpool, is a clear example of money being splashed, and the rewards being immediately reaped, with the Swedish striker going on to bag a red-hot 62 goals for the Magpies, over 102 games.
Unfortunately, at the moment, the £69m splashed out on Woltemade - which is a club-record amount of money - doesn't look to be an golden capture like Isak's, with the German failing to score across his last 12 games for the Magpies, in all competitions.
woltemade-newcastle
Yet, he did show flashes of his early brilliance at St James' Park, with seven Premier League strikes next to his name overall, at the Emirates, with his brief 23 minute spell seeing him unselfishly create a big chance to try and level proceedings.
To Woltemade's dismay, though, Yoane Wissa would blaze the opening wildly over the bar, with the former Brentford striker an even bigger throwaway of cash than the former Stuttgart marksman, despite costing less at the £55m mark.
Woltemade vs Wissa
Stat
Games played
Minutes played
Goals scored
Assists
At least the 6-foot-6 centre-forward can fall back on his early potent run of form on Tyneside, with Wissa still stuck on just one paltry Premier League strike for the Toon, ever since waving the safe haven of Brentford goodbye.
Wissa wasn't helped by a barrage of injury issues when first joining, but it's clear now that Newcastle's expensive forays into the transfer market, to try and replace Isak, have been very up-and-down in their success rates, so much so that Howe would rather field Osula, over the two flashy summer signings.
Yoane-Wissa
Even when Wissa did enter the fray on Saturday, it certainly didn't go to plan, unable to complete a single pass, while unsuccessful with all three of his attempted dribbles.
It will be intriguing to see who the under-fire manager selects for Newcastle's next Premier League showdown up top, as Brighton and Hove Albion travel to Tyneside, with Wissa surely way down Howe's list as to who he will throw into that contest.
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