Nick Woltemade was back amongst the goals as Newcastle United secured a 3-1 FA Cup fourth round win at Aston Villa on Saturday.
A second-half brace from Sandro Tonali cancelled out Tammy Abraham’s controversial opener for the home side. Woltemade then added a third in the closing stages to grab his 10th goal of the season on his 24th birthday.
It capped off an impressive display from the German international in a deeper role. So deep, in fact, that Howe referred to Woltemade as a ‘midfielder’against Villa.
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Midfielder Nick Woltemade
“We needed players to step up in Bruno's absence, we needed the creativity gap that Bruno [Guimaraes] will leave, we needed the passion that Bruno shows on the pitch and I thought all three midfielders did that,” Howe said.
“Sandro's got two goals, Nick's got a goal, so our midfielders contributed massively and I'm really pleased with everybody and we're going to need that in his absence throughout the time that he's out.”
Eddie Howe: Nick Woltemade ‘outstanding’ v Aston Villa
Woltemade joined Newcastle from VfB Stuttgart for a club record £65million transfer fee. And Howe was keen to stress that the German was signed as a forward.
“No, he arrived as an attacker, really,” Howe admitted. “I knew his best work was done low on the pitch, coming deep to link play.
“One of the reasons we wanted to sign him was his technical ability, added with a lot of other strengths that he's got. So, even when we were playing as a 9, we were encouraging him to come deeper on the pitch.
“Today, we started him deeper on the pitch. I don't think there's a massive difference between the two, but I think when he's playing and starting deeper, obviously, there's a bigger defensive responsibility and that's where I have to give him particular praise because he understood what the team needed.
“He understood the importance of the defensive aspect and I thought he was outstanding today.”
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