Newcastle United player ratings v Nottingham Forest: 'Reckless' 5/10 & 'frustrating' Anthony Elanga at HT
Newcastle United 0-0 Nottingham Forest player ratings: Here’s how Nick Woltemade, Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and co fared.
Newcastle United are drawing 0-0 with Nottingham Forest at St James’ Park this afternoon - here are the half-time player ratings from the match so far.
Eddie Howe named an unchanged Newcastle line-up from the 4-0 Champions League win at Union Saint-Gilloise on Wednesday night. Anthony Elanga started against his former club while Dan Burn kept his place at left-back with Lewis Hall dropping out of the squad due to a hamstring issue.
The Magpies went into the game looking for only their second Premier League win of the season, having suffered late defeats against Liverpool and Arsenal previously at St James’ Park.
It was a first half of few chances at St James’ Park with Joelinton forcing two save from Matz Sels while Morgan Gibbs-White tested Nick Pope from a free-kick as the sides went in 0-0 at the break.
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Here are the Newcastle United half-time player ratings from the match (full-time ratings available here)...
Nick Pope - 6
Parried a Morgan Gibbs-White free-kick to safety after 20 minutes, the first time he was tested in the game.
Kieran Trippier - 6
Defended a dangerous cross into the box well to clear the danger.
Malick Thiaw - 7
Showed a good turn of pace to clear the danger as Dan Ndoye threatened to break away.
Sven Botman - 7
Covered well for Burn at times. Solid on the ball.
Dan Burn - 5
Beaten easily by Nicolo Savona down the left, which led to an opening for Forest. Was targeted by the visitors.
Sandro Tonali - 7
The pick of Newcastle’s midfield trio with some good passing and carrying of the ball. Drilled a shot wide at the end of the first half.
Bruno Guimaraes - 6
Trying to make things happen from midfield but not a lot has come off so far.
Joelinton - 5
Shot straight at Matz Sels in Newcastle’s first shot of the game. Denied again with a close-range header by a smart save from Sels. A bit reckless in the middle of the park, conceding soft free-kicks and being wasteful in possession.
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Anthony Elanga - 5
Seen plenty of the ball in some decent areas but done little with it. A frustrating showing against his former club.
Anthony Gordon - 6
Drifted in from the left and linked play up well early on but his impact waned as the first half progressed.