Newcastle United player ratings v Sunderland: Two 4/10s & Sandro Tonali 'off the pace' at half-time
Sunderland 0-0 Newcastle United half-time player ratings: Here’s how Nick Woltemade, Anthony Elanga, Anthony Gordon and co have fared.
Newcastle United are drawing 0-0 with Sunderland at the Stadium of Light - here are the player ratings from the match so far.
Eddie Howe made two changes to his side that drew 2-2 at Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League with Lewis Miley and Anthony Elanga coming into the side in place of Joelinton and Harvey Barnes. Miley heads into the game fresh from becoming Newcastle’s youngest ever Champions League goalscorer after coming off the bench to replace Joelinton in Leverkusen.
The Brazilian was forced off in the game with a groin issue but has been passed fit enough to be included on the bench. Nick Pope, Kieran Trippier, Sven Botman, Emil Krafth and William Osula remain out.
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The long-awaited return of the derby match in the Premier League got off to a cagey start with little goalmouth action in the first half. Dan Ballard had Sunderland’s best chance with a header wide from Granit Xhaka’s cross at the end of the first half while Newcastle never really threatened.
Dan Burn was forced off at the end of the half due to an injury in the only notable incident in the opening 45 minutes.
Here are the Newcastle United half-time player ratings from the match (full-time ratings available here)...
Aaron Ramsdale - 6
Played several searching balls forward but didn’t have too much to do.
Tino Livramento - 6
Had a couple of heavy touches trying to bring the ball forward. Wasted a lot of energy making runs for passes that never found him.
Malick Thiaw - 6
Came close to putting the ball into his own net inside the opening quarter-of-an-hour.
Dan Burn - 6
Battled well in the air to win several high balls. Took a heavy blow in the first half in a clash with Nordi Mukiele and was taken off shortly afterwards.
Lewis Hall - 6
Put under a lot of pressure but still showed some smart touches to withstand it.
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Sandro Tonali - 5
Still looks a little off the pace at times but has tried to get involved.
Bruno Guimaraes - 6
Unable to stamp his authority on the game so far but has put in a composed defensive shift.
Lewis Miley - 6
Came into the side in place of Joelinton. Made a good challenge to stop a Sunderland counter attack.
Anthony Elanga - 4
Overran the ball after getting into a promising position down the right. Not quite switched on at key moments and kept giving the ball away.
Anthony Gordon - 5
Conceded possession on a few occasions early. Was trying to make things happen down his side but kept relatively quiet.
Nick Woltemade - 4
Got the ball at his feet in some decent areas but was let down by his final pass or touch.