It would be safe to say that most people had expected a close contest when Newcastle United travelled to Elland Road. Leeds Utd had the same number of points as them and on paper, nothing suggested that this would be one-way traffic.
Football is not played on paper though. And one-way traffic is exactly what it was when Newcastle United failed to cope with the home side and lost 4-1.
Newcastle United’s goal was merely a consolation strike from Bazoumana Toure. At no point were the Magpies in the game away at Elland Road.
Club legend Alan Shearer was far from impressed with what he saw from Newcastle United on the night. During the game, he wrote: “3-0 at HT is embarrassing.”
Newcastle United did not look the same against Leeds
In the first five games of the season, we had seen a version of Newcastle United that had raised hopes. They were a whisker away from beating Liverpool, ending up with a draw because of a penalty deep into added time.
They went away to Tottenham Hotspur and got themselves a 2-0 win. Against Bournemouth, they fell behind 2-0 within 35 minutes and did not drop their shoulders, eventually coming back to earn a 2-2 draw.
There was a ton to like about that team and enough to raise expectations around the future. The same cannot be said about their performance against Leeds United.
This was a team that had conceded six goals against Chelsea not too long ago. But Newcastle United barely got any joy going forward against them.
As for their defensive display, you cannot expect to concede four goals in a Premier League game and win. So, it was unsurprising that Newcastle United did not either.
Newcastle fans cannot let one result deflate them
At the end of the day, this is just one result. Was it a bad day at the office for the Magpies? Or is it something that has been coming for a while?
We will get to know that based on where we go from here. But for now, the fans cannot allow one result to completely deflate them about where Newcastle United stand as a team.
Matthias Jaissle’s side have shown enough positives so far for the fans to continue backing them. But at the same time, there has to be recognition that this was always expected to be a tough campaign. So, some stumbles should be expected.
