NUFC player ratings: One 8, two 7s, several 6s, a few 5s and two 4s from Bournemouth draw

Another chaotic afternoon at St James’ Park, as second half goals from Anthony Gordon and Matt Ritchie saw Newcastle come from behind twice to secure a 2-2 draw with Bournemouth. Here are the ratings from yesterday’s game.

Dubravka – 6/10 – On his 150th appearance for the Toon he made some fine stops to deny Bournemouth. The best being a brilliant point-blank save against an in-form Solanke. But will want to forget his slip allowing Solanke to open the scoring.

Trippier – 6/10 – His link up with Almiron is always great to watch and he provided a few chances from set pieces. Early on he played a wicked ball to the far post on the volley which would have been a sublime assist had Gordon met the header better.

Schar – 6/10 – Steady away defensively, but lost Solanke on a couple of occasions. Not his best day at St James’, but far from his worst. Some brilliant long balls.

Botman – 6/10 – He had a shaky opening 15 minutes, but grew into the game. He also struggled to contend with Solanke at times, but made some crucial blocks in stoppage time.

Burn – 4/10 – His lack of pace is becoming more and more predictably exploited by opposition teams. On countless occasions Semenyo had the better of him down our left-hand side, losing him so easily for Bournemouth’s second goal. He also managed to tackle Bruno inside Bournemouth’s box in the first half… Big decision needs to be made by Howe next week.

Bruno – 7/10 – Again deployed further forward in the midfield and was able to get among the action higher up the pitch as a result. His passing in tight spaces is so nice to watch and he took the game by the scruff of the neck to pick out some lovely passes. Some lovely balls into the box created chances out of nowhere, although he was unusually sloppy, at times, with giveaways in poor areas.

Longstaff – 5/10 – His pass for Almiron at the start of the second-half was fantastic, but he was bypassed very often by the Cherries’ midfield. He is a frustrating player because his balance in the midfield is so important, but often he lacks the final bit of quality.

Miley – 8/10 – Won a lot of his personal battles and seems to be really coming into his own in the number 6 role, showing so much composure and calmness on and off the ball. Also broke the play up very well, winning a few vital tackles. Our player of the matc. What a brilliant career this teenager from Stanley will have.

Almiron – 4.5/10 – Very wasteful and picked the wrong pass in key moments. A few poor crosses and missed the chance to set up Gordon, firing over instead. On the plus side, he is beginning to show signs of at least attempting to use his weaker right foot now which is welcome.

Barnes – 6/10 – Really good to see him get a good chunk of minutes from the start. Linked up well with Bruno and swapped positions with Gordon and Almiron throughout the match. Was replaced after around an hour by Jacob Murphy. Ran out of steam, but no idea how Smith wasn’t booked for a blatant foul on him in the first half.

Gordon – 7/10 – Took his penalty very well, slotting it past the keeper into the bottom corner. But doesn’t look totally comfortable as an out-and-out striker. Had the beating of Smith and drew fouls from their centre-backs. :

Murphy (67’) – 5/10 – Did not offer much after replacing Barnes and couldn’t get on the end of a great ball from Bruno to equalise.

Livramento (71’) – 6/10 – Surely he starts the next match after yet another poor day at the office for Burn. He offered a bit of width and a decent range of passing after coming on. Importantly, he was able to offer a bit of defensive stability after the second Cherries goal came down the flank he was deployed to.

White (91’) – A few neat and tidy touches.

Ritchie (91’) – Came on. Scored. Rescued a point. We usually don’t give ratings to players who don’t play more than 15 minutes, but an exception needs to be made for this!

About Joshua Nichol

Joshua is a freelance journalist currently training at Sunderland Uni, but is a lifelong Newcastle fan and enjoyer of retro football kits.

2 thoughts on “NUFC player ratings: One 8, two 7s, several 6s, a few 5s and two 4s from Bournemouth draw

  1. Can’t argue with miley as standout player. Some visionary passes and I actually don’t remember him losing the ball at any point. He was noticeably more aggressive . I can’t wait to see him in a balanced team. Once again impressed with guimaraes’ composure in the face of some overtly aggressive Bournemouth challenges.
    Agreed that its beyond time for Livramento to start

      (Quote)

  2. Wow so over a dozen misplaced passes from miley yesterday. Clear example of my one eyed bias then 🤣🤣

      (Quote)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *