Newcastle United lost the heated derby in Sunderland—due to an unfortunate own goal by Nick Woltemade.
Nick Woltemade also played a leading role in the eagerly awaited Tyne-Wear derby – but not the one he had hoped for. The national striker scored an unfortunate own goal on Sunday afternoon, sealing Newcastle United’s defeat at AFC Sunderland, who are once again pulling away from their archrivals in the table.
Even before kick-off, the home fans at the Stadium of Lights made it clear how much they had missed this rivalry during their years of Premier League absence. In a large choreographed display, an unusual sight in England, they presented a large black cat pouncing on a magpie, a reference to the nicknames of both clubs.
Mukiele sets up Woltemade’s misfortune
The derby itself was not that uneven; it was more of a tough, low-scoring affair. After a goalless first half, former Leipzig player Mukiele crossed from the right to the near post less than a minute after the restart, and Woltemade, attempting to clear the ball unmarked, headed it into his own net with the help of the crossbar (46′). The stadium literally exploded. It was only the second own goal in a Tyne-Wear derby in the Premier League era. On the other hand, Woltemade remained harmless in his 75 minutes on the pitch (one shot on goal, twelve touches), as did the rest of the visitors’ team – unlike in Leverkusen (2-2) during the week. Newcastle ended the game with just 0.25 xGoals, although the home side were hardly any better with 0.29. However, Xhaka & Co. played cleverly after taking the lead and also benefited from the visitors repeatedly getting caught up in minor skirmishes. Ramsdale even prevented the score from becoming 2-0.
After a 1-1 draw in Liverpool and a 0-3 defeat at Manchester City, the strong newcomers won again and climbed to seventh place for the time being. The Magpies, who simply cannot achieve consistency in their results, are four points and five places worse off.
