St James’ Park announcement confirms shock £20m Newcastle United decision

Newcastle United advanced to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup by defeating AFC Wimbledon 1-0 at St James’ Park.

Fabian Schar’s first-half penalty propelled the Magpies past the League Two side, securing a meeting with Premier League rivals Chelsea

in just under a month. Here are our five talking points from the contest. Eddie Howe made eight changes to his starting lineup, with just

Fabian Schar, Joelinton, and Harvey Barnes continuing from Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Manchester City.

That gave an opportunity to the likes of Lloyd Kelly, Sean Longstaff, Joe Willock, and Miguel Almiron, but it is perhaps safe to say that

none of those players – though Almiron was one of the better performers on the night – have given Howe a selection headache ahead of the

trip to Everton this weekend. Newcastle were absolutely flat and uncoordinated in the first half, and only took the lead after Joe Piggot

pulled down Almiron in the area, culminating in Schar’s clinical conversion from the spot. After the break, there was enough improvement

to see United take control of the game without producing many clear-cut chances.

“You go from Manchester City to this game, they’re totally different and it’s difficult for the players coming in,” Howe told reporters. “But

personally, you must set that aside and demonstrate your greatest skills in order to offer yourself the best chance of playing again.

Knowing the players’ abilities, I believe some of them did not perform well today, particularly the attacking players, and they will be

dissatisfied.Will Osula made his first competitive start since joining Sheffield United for £15 million, and he delivered an impressive

performance.

The Magpies’ staff is devoting a lot of time to Osula behind the scenes, and it’s easy to understand why. He possesses interesting raw

elements, like as his pace, height, and work rate, as we saw against Wimbledon.

Four minutes in, Almiron slipped in Osula, who struggled to control the ball. Around the half-hour mark, the Norwegian under-21

international was able to take a clever touch before sending his shot over the bar. He was mainly underutilized but still managed to

provide one of Newcastle’s better moments, turning away from Riley Hartbottle in the 69th minute as his shot struck the side netting.

The 21-year-old then demonstrated the stamina and tenacity to chase down numerous Wimbledon players in an attempt to reclaim the

ball, and supporters applauded him, continuously screaming his name to the tune of ‘Tequila’. If United can properly develop his

attributes, they will have an explosive player on their hands. But, as Howe warned, “he still has a lot of work to do.” It was such a surprise

that even the St James’ Park PA announcer got it incorrect, stating that John Ruddy, not Odysseas Vlachodimos, had replaced Martin

Dubravka! The Greek, of course, entered the action at halftime after Dubravka was forced to quit due to a knee injury sustained during an

earlier clash with Omar Bugiel. No.1 Nick Pope sat out completely due to a sore knee. Ruddy had previously been chosen in matchday

teams ahead of Vlachodimos, thus his debut came as a surprise.

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