The £69m arrival of Nick Woltemade is the lift Newcastle United desperately needed, but it didn’t come soon enough as the lack of striker and cohesion in the final third cost us again in a tough watch at Leeds.
It was a game there to be won against a pretty toothless Leeds side, yet we never got going in a match lacking in quality throughout, much like our opening day 0-0 at Aston Villa, which was a much better performance by comparison.
Another blank on the road means we’ve now gone over four hours away from home without scoring a goal away from St James’ Park, with the last being Alexander Isak’s spot kick at Brighton back in early May.
It also leaves us without a win in our opening three games of the new Premier League season, causing no panic at this early stage of the campaign, but a feeling of regret that our chaotic summer, the Alexander Isak saga and missed chances has made for a slow start to 2025/26 from a points perspective.
Woltemade’s debut can’t come quickly enough, and we’ll soon have Gordon, Joelinton and Hall all ready to start again, but it feels essential that Newcastle bring in one more striker before Monday’s deadline, with the current lack of depth or quality a big issue if we wish to compete on four fronts this season.
Howe made four changes, with Botman, Ramsey, Murphy and Osula replacing Joelinton, Elanga, Barnes and the suspended Gordon, who begins his three-game ban.
A major theme from our opening two games was our inability to score when on top, and a similar pattern played out here in a first half lacking quality or cohesion in attack.
Osula had one goal-bound effort blocked after good work from the lively Ramsey and Livramento was trying to drive us on down the left, but we looked like a side missing our star men in the attacking third while trying to adjust to a new 3-5-2 system.
Botman had been rock solid, Schar made one superb block and Murphy delivered one brilliant cross that Osula should’ve done more to attack. However, we rarely threatened Leeds’ goal aside from one powerful Murphy shot fired straight at Perri.
A half-time change saw Ramsey come off with a knock, ironically from Sean Longstaff’s heavy challenge, with Lewis Miley replacing him for the final 45.
We came out from the break far too slowly, struggling to keep the ball or get out of our own half until Murphy had just our second shot on target, striking well from range as Perri parried away for a corner.
With no natural striker in sight and Ramsey’s spark missed, we were crying out for one moment of quality in our final game before our new £69m striker would be available to play. But we weren’t helping ourselves, with Osula looking raw, the new system not gelling and too many deliveries into the box, from open play or dead ball situations, not good enough.
The system lacked balance and the game needed a spark, so it was encouraging to see Hall and Elanga come on just after the hour mark. Trippier came off after looking leggy against Gnonto, with Murphy also withdrawn. This saw Livramento move to the right and Elanga partner good friend and fellow Scandinavian, Osula, up top.
Elanga immediately made his presence felt with a burst of pace and power down the right, but again Osula was a little slow to anticipated the cross, which bounced off the big Dane, allowing Leeds to clear.
Another change followed with 20 minutes to go, with Barnes replacing Botman. This saw us shift to a 4-3-3, with Barnes and Elanga either side of Osula as Bruno tried push beyond Tonali and Miley in midfield. But not a great deal changed, with Leeds now sitting deeper, much like Aston Villa did with 10 men, in a bid to protect their clean sheet and pick up a point.
The lack of quality, spark or cohesion continued and it was actually Pope who denied Leeds a late winner, with substitute Calvert-Lewin having a low strike (their only effort on goal) saved.
Longstaff was named Sky’s Man of the Match and Elanga summed up a brutal display all round by firing a late cross straight into the crowd behind the goal we were attacking.
It will get better and there will be much more to come once we get key players fit and Woltemade integrated into the side, but that’s two points dropped and a really poor display against a side we should be beating.
Next up, the first international break before we return to take on Wolves at St James’ two weeks today.
**Newcastle XI (3-4-3):** Pope – Schar, Botman, Burn – Trippier, Bruno, Tonali, Livramento – Murphy, Osula, Ramsey.
Subs: Ramsdale, Lascelles, Thiaw, Krafth, Hall, Willock, Miley, Barnes, Elanga.
**Leeds XI (4-3-3):** Perri – Bogle, Struijk, Rodon, Gudmundsson – Longstaff, Gruev, Stach – James, Nmecha, Gnonto.