Sunderland hand Newcastle United £218m transfer reality check after derby win - this is brutal
Sunderland 1-0 Newcastle United: Nick Woltemade’s own goal left big questions about Eddie Howe and his side.
Newcastle United were dealt a brutal reality check by Sunderland on Sunday afternoon, one that goes far beyond the abject 90 or so minutes that unfolded at the Stadium of Light.
It's fair to say the first Premier League Tyne-Wear derby in almost a decade spectacularly failed to live up to the hype. Attacking quality was nonexistent, chances were few and far between.
A blow for the neutral watching on Sky Sports, but Sunderland couldn't care less come full time.
It's the three points and the pride of victory that matter—whatever the cost. That was lost on Eddie Howe's side on Sunday.
But perhaps the most concerning thing of all for Newcastle wasn't the result, but the awful predictability of everything about it.
Predictable Newcastle United
Newcastle have looked toothless in attack several times already this season.Their wingers have offered nothing on plenty of occasions, they've lacked a creative spark, and Eddie Howe's team selection and substitutes have been called into question.
Sunday was absolutely nothing new in that respect.
A freak defeat, late heartbreak, or a slice of luck for the opposition when you've played well and given everything hurts, but there's an acquiescence to it.
That wasn't the case here.Sunderland got their slice of luck with Nick Woltemade's bizarre header into his own net, but Newcastle got what they deserved. Rather than build on their 4-1 win away to Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium last time out away from home, Howe's side have simply proven that match was the freak performance; Sunday was Newcastle's reality.
It was a '0-0 draw' that they found a way to lose.
This season, Howe's side have been a boring, predictable, and ultimately stale outfit whose quality shines through on occasion but goes missing far too often.
Statistically, it was damning: Newcastle mustered an xG of just 0.25 to Sunderland's 0.29 - the lowest of any Premier League game this season.
Defensively, United were solid at the Stadium of Light.The fears of conceding from set-pieces were addressed, and they limited Sunderland to just one shot on target, the fewest the home team has managed in any game this campaign.
But it was a negative approach that saw Newcastle soak up pressure and rely on the wingers to be effective and threaten. They didn't.
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Sunderland horror show for £124m NUFC duo
Anthony Elanga could count himself extremely fortunate to be named in the starting lineup in the first place, given his limited offerings so far this season. Boyhood Newcastle fan Jacob Murphy, who has five goal contributions this term to Elanga's one, remained on the bench.
It was a big opportunity for the 23-year-old, and he failed to deliver once more.
The winger could make a case for being Sunderland's best player, considering how many times he gifted possession to a red-and-white shirt. Though that mantle goes to Woltemade, as he proved to be the difference between the sides, just not in the way he would have hoped.
His emphatic header from Nordi Mukiele's cross a minute into the second half gave Sunderland the lead and ultimately the win. It could only have been muscle memory for the striker to head the ball into his own net with such conviction - a true moment of derby madness from the German.
"I hope he doesn't take it personally," Howe said. "These things happen in games. He went back with good intentions, and he's defended extremely well since he's been here. It was just an unfortunate moment."
While Woltemade has generally enjoyed a positive start to his Newcastle career with seven goals to his name, Sunday's defeat raises some serious questions over the summer business in general.
Woltemade and Elanga, Sunderland's best two players on the day, cost Newcastle £124 million over the summer. Throw £55 million Yoane Wissa and £39 million Jacob Ramsey - who didn't even get onto the pitch - into the mix, and that's £218 million.
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Sunderland hand NUFC a brutal transfer reality check
To put that into context, that's more than the cost of Sunderland's entire squad. Regis Le Bris has taken a play-off winning side that almost certainly would have gone straight back down without significant improvements and acted quickly and decisively to put together a competitive Premier League squad that now sits four points clear of Newcastle, 16 games into the season.
For that, Sunderland deserve credit. It’s a brutal highlighting of Newcastle’s failings.
The side has managed to become noticeably worse after one of the biggest transfer window spends in their history.
The destabilising sale of Alexander Isak is the elephant in the room in that respect. It helped fund the influx, but the incomings are yet to deliver.
Elanga, scouted for two years, was meant to upgrade the right wing at £55 million - right now, he doesn't look worth a tenth of that.
After the match, Howe deflected criticism directed at the former Nottingham Forest man and admitted none of his forward players delivered the performance expected from them.
While the Magpies boss insists that Sunday's derby defeat won't define his side's season, it's fair to say it has done a pretty accurate job of defining it so far.
Is this just Newcastle’s reality or can Howe and his players turn it around? Something has to change either way.