Newcastle United: 3 things that went wrong against Leicester City
By Durim Halimi
Newcastle United started the new year in the worst possible way with a 3-0 defeat against Leicester City at St. James’ Park.
Newcastle United suffered their third consecutive defeat after losing 3-0 to Leicester City at St. James’ Park this afternoon. Two unforced errors in the back gifted Brendan Rodgers’ side with two easy goals in the first half. Newcastle United were helpless after using three substitutes in 45 minutes, and Fabian Schar’s departure with a hamstring injury in the 50th minute left the Magpies with ten men for most of the second half.
As a result, Leicester City managed the game perfectly and got the job done on the road. A lot of things went wrong for Newcastle United today, but here are three of the main issues worth discussing and analyzing.
Florian Lejeune’s Errors
Steve Bruce made the wrong call by starting Florian Lejeune for the fourth time over a ten day period. The Frenchman recently recovered from knee surgery and he showed us that he is nowhere near ready to start multiple games in a row. Lejeune single-handedly doomed the Magpies today with his unforced errors in the back.
His poor decision to pass the ball across goal led to an easy interception for Ayoze Perez, who then scored to give the visitors the lead, and a few minutes later Lejeune’s weak clearance led to a goal from James Maddison, who struck the ball well from outside the box. Lejeune has his work cut out for himself in training going forward.
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Joelinton’s Wasted Chances
Is there any hope left for Joelinton as a Newcastle United player? The Brazilian received a wonderful long ball from Jonjo Shelvey in the 15th minute, but he completely ruined a perfect chance to beat Kasper Schmeichel in a one-on-one situation. In the second half, when the score was still 2-0, Joelinton received a grounded pass near the edge of the box, but, once again, he failed to strike the ball properly. These wasted chances from the team’s number nine is placing a low ceiling for potential success.
Poor Ball Distribution
The game was there for the taking today in the first 30 minutes, but Newcastle United had zero creativity in the middle of the park. Steve Bruce’s men lacked composure with the ball at their feet and they did not manage to string together more than two or three passes in midfield. The Magpies were too focused on playing hoof-ball up the middle and failed to utilize Miguel Almiron out wide against an aggressive, but much slower Caglar Soyuncu.