Newcastle United’s Jekyll and Hyde performance against Chelsea in the Premier League typified their season, with a ferocious start succumbing to Blue pressure after the break.

A draw was the end result after Eddie Howe’s side blew their two-goal advantage. However, decisions not to award the St. James’ park side a penalty after Wesley Fofana handled in the box and Trevoh Chalobah’s shove on Anthony Gordon were inexplicable, and it cost Newcastle a precious win.

It also might have cost Nick Woltemade an emphatic hat-trick, with the German striker having fired a brace past Robert Sanchez inside 20 minutes. What a signing he has been for the Magpies.

Nick Woltemade's performance vs Chelsea

The 23-year-old Woltemade has enjoyed a fast start to life in Newcastle, scoring nine times across 23 appearances in all competitions. He was left nursing a bruise after his headed clearance careened into United’s net to seal victory for Sunderland last week, but he redeemed himself with a reminder of his talent against Chelsea.

With a long, loping frame and a natural instinct for scoring goals, Woltemade is proving himself to be a winner of a signing for Newcastle, replacing Alexander Isak for half the price and currently outshining the Liverpool man.

Combining with Gordon for the second, Howe will be delighted to see the technically shar pfrontman deepening his connection with his fellow forwards.

Could Woltemade trump Isak and become the Toon’s finest centre-forward since the days of Alan Shearer? Perhaps he could, but it was actually one of the 23-year-old’s teammates who proved he is Newcastle’s new version of the club legend against Chelsea.

Newcastle's new version of Alan Shearer

Newcastle are a deeply emotional club, and the club-city connection with Shearer was one that remains as strong as ever, with the Premier League’s record goalscorer having posted 206 goals and 58 assists across 405 appearances for his boyhood club.

Woltemade may be a striker with the skills to become an elite player, but it is Lewis Miley who proved against Chelsea that he could be the new homegrown icon.

Miley, 19, has already made 66 senior appearances for Newcastle after being reared in the club’s academy. In this he differs from Shearer, who wended his way down south to Southampton in the formative years of his career.

Praised for his incredible effort in an unnatural full-back role, reporter Andy Sixsmith said he “looked like he’s played there all his career”, stepping up amid injury issues to Kieran Trippier and Tino Livramento.

He completed his one attempted dribble and won his one tackle, but the stats don’t paint the full picture here, with Alejandro Garnacho silenced by the younger man.

Lewis Miley vs Chelsea

Stats (* per game)

#

Minutes played

90′

Touches

61

Shots (on target)

1 (0)

Accurate passes

30/38 (79%)

Possession lost

10x

Chances created

0

Dribbles

1/1

Ball recoveries

9

Tackles won

1/1

Interceptions

3

Clearances

3

Duels won

4/7

Data via Sofascore

Here’s the thing: Miley has proven himself capable of standing out in a Newcastle team awash with elite quality. He could develop into the city’s greatest native since Shearer plied his craft at number nine in black and white.

Subscribe for deeper Newcastle analysis and profiles Explore fuller analysis by subscribing to the newsletter: follow Newcastle’s rising stars, tactical shifts, and player profiles like Woltemade and Miley, with clear breakdowns that deepen your Premier League understanding. Subscribe Subscribe for deeper Newcastle analysis and profiles Explore fuller analysis by subscribing to the newsletter: follow Newcastle’s rising stars, tactical shifts, and player profiles like Woltemade and Miley, with clear breakdowns that deepen your Premier League understanding.

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Chronicle Live even handed the Geordie a 9/10 match rating for his effort against the Londoners, thriving in his moonlit right-back berth.

Miley oozes confidence and maturity. He is shaping into a special player, a homegrown talent who can allay the frustrations around selling Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest last year.

Could he become the new Shearer? Certainly, the teenager has endeared himself to the Toon supporters, and he’s only going to get better over the years.

Related Newcastle's £100k-p/w flop looks like another Michael Owen-style disaster

This Newcastle ace has struggled for his best for this season

Posts ByJoe Nuttall

Leeds United will be desperate to return to winning ways this evening as they’re set to take on Brentford at Griffin Park in their next Championship fixture.

The Whites threw away a promising position last time out at Elland Road as Patrick Bamford’s opener was cancelled out by two goals from Wigan Athletic’s Gavin Massey in what was a day to forget for Leeds United.

Of course, securing promotion is the priority at this moment in time but Leeds should already have their eye on a couple of possible summer additions, including Hull City’s Jarrod Bowen.

Leeds were reportedly (as per Daily Mail) plotting a move for the attacker back in January but nothing developed as he ended up staying at the KCOM Stadium. But, with the Whites possibly securing promotion and Hull remaining in the Championship, it would make perfect sense for Victor Orta to go after him this summer.

He’s produced an impressive 21 goals and four assists this season which is pretty astonishing as he’s been operating out on the wing. It’s clear to see that he can score and create goals and he’s only 22-years-old, so he still has his best years ahead of him and could easily develop into a top, top player.

And, he’s even been dubbed (as per talkSport) as the ‘English Arjen Robben’, who was arguably one of the world’s best attackers in his prime, so it’s clear to see just how highly-rated he really is.

Sadly, the Elland Road faithful won’t have fond memories of the attacker as he absolutely destroyed Leeds earlier on this season, scoring two goals against Marcelo Bielsa’s side in a 2-0 win. He was unstoppable on the day and ran some of the Whites’ defenders ragged, so there’s even more incentive to move in for him.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

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Leeds are set to wave goodbye to Jack Harrison in the summer, while Pablo Hernandez is getting on with age and Ezgjan Alioski has been deployed at left-back in recent times, so it would make sense to bring in a winger.

Leeds United fans, would you like to see Jarrod Bowen rock up at Elland Road in the summer? Join the discussion by commenting below…

A stroke-filled 69 by opener J Arun Kumar and some timely rearguardaction by the seventh wicket pair of B Akhil and D Ganesh helpedKarnataka to score 231 for seven off 92 overs at stumps on the firstday of their South Zone Ranji Trophy league match against Kerala atthe Nehru stadium in Kochi on Wednesday.Winning the toss, Karnataka lost Mithun Beerala (8) and BarringtonRowland (5) with only 49 runs on the board. Arun Kumar and VijayBharadwaj (18) initiated a recovery by adding 54 runs for the thirdwicket off 18.5 overs. Arun Kumar, who had dominated the scoring sofar, left at this stage. He faced 129 balls and hit nine fours and asix.Arun Kumar’s departure triggered off a mini collapse. Bharadwaj whostruggled for 89 balls to get 18 with only one boundary hit, wasfourth out. He was followed by AR Mahesh (6) and wicketkeeper VSTNaidu (23) and Karnataka were suddenly struggling at 144 for six.Akhil and Ganesh however performed the rescue act with a seventhwicket partnership of 74 runs off 23 overs. The stand ended whenGanesh was run out for 41. He faced 74 balls and hit five fours and asix. Akhil remained unbeaten with 45 at close, having faced 94 ballsand hitting four of them to the ropes. Keeping him company was skipperVenkatesh Prasad (2).

Jamaica coach Junior Bennett has said he is satisfied with his team’s five-wicket in their opening match of the Carib Beer series against Leeward Islands, but expressed concern over his team’s batting after they slumped to 20 for 4 chasing 115 before staging a recovery.”I’m not too pleased with our batting in both innings,” Bennett told the . “But we are extremely pleased to get off to a positive start. We will definitely have to look at the batsmen and talk to them before our next game. I think both our openers got out the same way twice [hooking] in both innings, which is not good.”But Bennett praised his spinners, Odean Brown, who claimed the Man-of-the-Match award for his 10 wickets and Nikita Miller, who took seven wickets. “There are some aspects of our cricket that we are extremely proud of. I think we bowled extremely well. Brown and Miller bowled well, supported by [Andre] Russell and [David] Bernard.”We took some good catches and our ground fielding was also good,” he said. Jamaica will need to sort out their batting before their next match against a Combined Campuses and Colleges team starting at Kensington Park on Friday, January 11.Meanwhile, Leeward Islands’ coach, John Archibald, said his side had positives to take from the match despite their low scores of 155 and 183 in the two innings. “Even in losing you can take away the good things. We saw some fight, some resilience. But the most important thing is that the guys didn’t hang their heads.”Anthony Martin, the legspinner, bowled very economically. The batting of young Montcin Hodge, who showed a lot of character, was also good, and it was also nice to see Javier Liburd finding his footing.”Martin took four wickets, including figures of 3 for 31 in the first innings, Hodge scored a patient 64 gathered over five hours, and Liburd scored 43 in the first innings. Leewards will be looking to gain their first points of the season when they take on Windward Islands in Grenada on Friday.

Nottinghamshire have declined a request from the Barmy Army to allow their trumpeter, Billy Cooper, to play at the fourth Investec Ashes Test at Trent Bridge.Keen to recreate the atmosphere at Edgbaston – where some Australia players seemed rattled by a crowd rated the loudest Alastair Cook could remember – the Barmy Army wrote to the club asking them to reconsider their long-held ban on musical instruments inside the ground.The club held firm, however, reminding the Barmy Army that Lord’s also do not welcome musical instruments and that there would be no change of policy.”It’s disappointing,” Paul Burnham, the co-founder of the Barmy Army told ESPNcricinfo. “We know how much the players value our support and we thought the atmosphere created at Edgbaston was wonderful.”The players often talk about the support the crowd give them as being like an extra man and we’re sorry we won’t be able to provide that at Trent Bridge.”Billy Cooper – Billy The Trumpet as he is called in Barmy Army circles – attended every day of the Edgbaston Test. On the third day, 500 supporters who had purchased their tickets through the Barmy Army sat together in the middle of the Eric Hollies stand at Edgbaston and provided the foundations for some unusually loud singing and chanting described as “awesome” by Stuart Broad on Tuesday.”What people sometimes don’t understand,” Burnham said, “is that Billy orchestrates a lot of the singing. People will still do it if he’s not there. But it will be in pockets of 10 or 20 here and there. It will be chaotic and less helpful for the side and less fun for the spectators.”But we respect Nottinghamshire’s views and we respect the ground rules. We’re still be there and we’ll still be supporting the side. We’ll keep asking them to reconsider, but we will continue to respect that it is their decision.”While the noise is not to everyone’s taste – and Nottinghamshire’s more traditional atmosphere has often scored very highly in spectator rating surveys – the England team continue to value it.Ahead of the first Ashes Test of 2013, Andy Flower – the England coach at the time – pleaded with Nottinghamshire to change their stance. They refused to do so then and refuse to do so now.

Leicestershire have secured the signing of Lancashire batsman Paul Horton on a three-year contract.It is the second time this week that the club has signed a batsman with proven First Division quality and captaincy experience following the signing of Neil Dexter from Middlesex on Monday.Along with Wayne White, who has returned to the club, the trio have all signed three-year contracts as Leicestershire look to address a likely, if not yet definite, fate of finishing bottom of Division Two for the third successive season.Opener Horton, 32, whose spell as captain included leading Lancashire to the NatWest T20 Blast final in 2014, has amassed 9,522 first-class runs at an average of 37.63. He has registered 51 half-centuries and 21 first-class hundreds with a career best score of 209.Leicestershire chief executive Wasim Khan said: “It is terrific that we have secured the signing of two experienced batsmen with leadership experience in county cricket in Paul Horton and Neil Dexter.”Like Neil, Paul has an excellent track record in all three formats of the game and will be another great role model for our younger professionals to learn from. We are delighted to have both players on board for the next three seasons.”

Aaron Finch and Matthew Wade, who are both part of Australia’s current ODI set-up, have been fined for breaching Cricket Australia’s code of behaviour during Victoria’s 17-run loss to South Australia in their Matador Cup match on October 16.Finch was docked 70% of his match fees for showing dissent at an umpire’s decision after he was given lbw off the bowling of Daniel Worrall. Wade was charged under Article 2.1.4 for “using language that is obscene, offensive or insulting during a match,” after a mix-up with Daniel Christian that resulted in his run-out.Wade, who has had a history of suspensions in the past, was fined 50% as a result of this being his second Level 1 offence in the past 18 months. He was suspended for one match in last year’s one-day competition for inadvertently breaking a window after his dismissal in the loss to Queensland. Wade was also suspended for one Sheffield Shield match for tampering the pitch against Tasmania in November 2013.Both players admitted to their respective offences to match referee Stephen Bernard and accepted the penalty, so no hearing was required.

New Zealand will arrive at the Gabba on Monday morning hoping for a fifth-day miracle, and it will be their two most experienced players to whom they turn. The loss of the team’s best batsman, Kane Williamson, in what became the penultimate over of a rain-shortened day, significantly hurt their hopes of batting out a draw.However, captain Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor remain at the crease, and with the stubborn BJ Watling still to come, Australia will not view their procession to victory as a sure thing. New Zealand would have to break all sorts of records to chase down 504 and win the match, but surviving for three sessions is not out of the equation – although the worst of the rain has passed.”The wicket is reasonably flat,” opener Tom Latham said. “It’s taking a little bit of turn to the right-hander in the footmarks. But in general it’s still a pretty good wicket. The guys are still pretty relaxed. The environment we’ve got at the moment, everyone is enjoying their cricket and stays pretty relaxed. Hopefully we can take that into tomorrow and see where it takes us.”The presence of McCullum at the crease might be the one thing that gives New Zealand fans the tiniest glimmer of hope of victory, for boundaries tend to arrive in a hurry when he is at the crease. That will mean he also offers Australia wicket opportunities, but Latham said he did not expect his captain to play any differently on day five at the Gabba.”I think it’s important that he plays his natural game,” Latham said. “If he goes out and bats for an hour or two, then we could certainly be a long way towards winning the match. But that first hour is going to be massive for us.”The first hour of the fourth day was encouraging for New Zealand, for although runs did not flow, nor did wickets, as Australia’s fast men persisted with lines that did not always make the New Zealanders play. Mitchell Johnson’s first five overs were all maidens, but only half of those deliveries required Latham and Martin Guptill to use their bats.The opening partnership reached 44 before it was ended in the 23rd over, when Latham was lbw to a swinging delivery from Mitchell Starc, and they had achieved a similarly solid but not spectacular start in the first innings. On that occasion Latham and Guptill managed 56 before the first wicket fell, and Latham hopes they will be able to push on for a bigger stand in the second Test in Perth.”They bowled really well and asked plenty of questions of us early on,” he said. “The last two innings we’ve laid a little bit of a platform but next time we get a chance hopefully we can keep pushing that on.”

A strong fight back from Haryana after they were dismissed were for206 in their first innings saw them take an all important firstinnings lead against Orissa. 23 year old left arm spinner Sonu Sharmabowling the spell of his life captured 7/32 off 26.5 overs andscuttled out Orissa for just 165.Resuming on a shaky 17 for 3, Orissa lost their way completely. ThoughSonu Sharma did not pick up a wicket on the first day, he more thanamply made up by dismissing the remaining seven Orissa batsmen. SanjayRaul was the only batsman to offer any sort of resistance. Even Raulcould manage just 51 before he was undone by the guiles of SonuSharma.Though Raul’s innings took 151 balls, it was studded with 9boundaries.The fact that Sonu Sharma got six of his seven wickets either LBW orbowled spoke a lot about the discipline with which he sent down hisovers.In response, Haryana were cautious. Playing out 25 overs and scoringjust 93 runs, the visitors lost 3 wickets. At stumps, Jasvir Singh (32not out) and I Gainda (4 not out) were at the crease.

Yesterday when the West Zone side were defending a smallish totalagainst East Zone, they opted to shuffle their bowling line up andopened with off spinner Sonali Chandok. That paid rich dividends.Extending the thinking to today’s game, West Zone opened the battingwith Arti Vaidya and Amrutha Shinde. Amrutha batted in the middleorder in the previous game and did not make too many runs. However,Amrutha played the sheet anchor role to perfection against South Zone,carrying her bat through the innings. In the company of her captain,Kalyani, who also picked up a half century she took West Zone to acomfortable eight wicket victory.West Zone’s second match in the CricInfo Rani Jhansi Trophy 2000 atthe Chemplast IIT stadium got off to a less than ideal start when theylost the toss to the South Zone team. The South Zone captain Lakshmihad no hesitation in electing to bat. The conditions were ideal forbatting with the ball coming on to the bat nicely. The fact that theoutfield was perfectly green and trimmed made it lightning fast.Opening the bowling, skipper Kalyani and Neelima bowled an impeccableline and length. Keeping the ball just short of a length and outsidethe off stump in the area Geoff Boycott calls the ‘corridor ofuncertainty’ the two medium pacers choked the South Zone openers. BothHamsavalli and Karuna Jain struggled to rotate the strike. Hamsavalliin particular struggled, playing over 20 balls before she could getoff the mark. At the end of 15 overs, South could manage just 22runs. Trying to push the scoring rate to something approaching whatwould be competitive, Hamsavalli fell being stumped by ‘keeperSulakshana Naik off the bowling of Amrutha Shinde. Lured out by theteasing loop of the spinner, Hamsavalli was beaten both in the air andoff the wicket. Her slow innings of 38 balls yielded just seven runs.Harsha Harinarayan came in at the fall of the first wicket and did notlast long. Attempting to heave Nilima through the off side, Harshaended up dragging the ball back onto her stumps.Neelima had completed her 10 overs, bowling them on the trot. Sheended with the impeccable figures of 10-3-17-1, picking up her onlywicket in the last over of her spell. Bowling with good pacethroughout her long spell, Neelima wholly deserved the wicket shepicked. With luck on her side, she could easily have had anotherwicket to her name. In the 17th over, Sonali Chandok standing at slipgrassed a chance that should have been taken. This let Harsha off thehook, but fortunately for West Zone, she was dismissed soon after.A period of increased run scoring ensued after the 30th over. VanitaViola played a few more shots than her team mates had, stroking theball nicely through the off side. When the loose ball was on offer shewas quick to capitalise, working it away into the outfield forruns. Vanita looked the most comfortable of the South Zone batswomen.However, as the slog overs neared, the South Zone batswomen attemptedmore and more big shots, with very limited success. Having opened thebowling in her first game, off spinner Sonali Chandok played a verydifferent role against South Zone. She was introduced late in theinnings and bowled through to the close. Giving the ball a lot ofair, she enticed the South Zone batsmen into false shots as theyattempted to swing her over the onside field. Wickets fell at regularintervals and at the end of 50 overs South Zone had 137/9 on theboard.Even senior Indian men’s cricketers have found it difficult to playthe role of sheet anchor. They get bogged down and often are unable torotate the strike. Amrutha on the other hand had no suchtrouble. Picking ones and twos at will she shut out the South Zoneteam completely. At the other end, her captain responded to situationin fine style. Playing the bowling on merit, Kalyani Umarani realisedthere was no hurry. When the ball was up for the shot, Kalyani plantedher front foot down the wicket and swung the ball effortlessly throughthe on side.It was fitting that Kalyani brought up her fifty in what turned out tobe the last ball of the innings. The single that brought up her fiftyalso took West Zone to a comprehensive eight wicket victory.At the end of the day, Amrutha Shinde was unbeaten on 59 while thecaptain Kalyani had scored exactly 50. Yesterday it was the same pairthat got the runs, with 29 and 20 respectively.West Zone have now won two out of two matches. Air India have alsodone the same. As the tournament progresses, the competition isheating up. West Zone are showing that they are one of the primecontenders for the trophy.