Newcastle United set up a third-round tie against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup after defeating AFC Wimbledon 1-0 at St. James’ Park in a rescheduled fixture thanks to Fabian Schar’s penalty before the break.
It wasn’t a vintage display but Eddie Howe will be pleased after ringing the changes and advancing in a competition that saw his side defeated as finalists the season before last.
There’s hope at the hearts of the Toon support that Newcastle can restore their place in European competition next term, but a concerted drive toward a trophy would go down a treat too.
Everyone will need to pull their weight to achieve this after superior opponents in the Carabao Cup and, starting from January, the FA Cup – and Miguel Almiron did his case no favours with this one.
Miguel Almiron’s performance vs Wimbledon
Almiron was fouled by Joe Pigott just before half-time and thus played one of the most important parts of the evening, winning the spot kick that sent Newcastle through to the next round. He also scored early on but to see his strike ruled out for offside.
But this wasn’t an accurate representation of his performance, having been wasteful in possession – giving the ball away on 16 occasions – and proving profligate in front of goal. The Paraguayan, aged 30, was also caught offside on a couple of occasions.
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Almiron’s game vs Wimbledon in Numbers |
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|---|---|
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Match Stats |
# |
|
Minutes played |
90′ |
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Goals |
0 |
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Assists |
0 |
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Penalties won |
1 |
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Touches |
82 |
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Shots (on target) |
3 (0) |
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Big chances missed |
1 |
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Accurate passes |
54/61 (89%) |
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Possession lost |
16x |
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Key passes |
1 |
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Crosses (completed) |
2 (0) |
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Dribbles (completed) |
1 (0) |
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Total duels (won) |
6 (2) |
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Stats via Sofascore |
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Howe will be hoping to see sharper attacking efforts from his team, especially with a crucial Premier League clash against Everton at Goodison Park forthcoming.
Almiron, who has only featured off the bench in the league thus far, must be dropped.
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Howe must now drop Miguel Almiron
Harvey Barnes started against Wimbledon but was withdrawn at the break, while Anthony Gordon was introduced after the hour mark and centre-forward Alexander Isak was not included at all as he regains fitness ahead of the weekend.
If Isak is fit to start at Everton, then he will. Furthermore, Jacob Murphy sat through the entire affair on Tuesday night as an unused substitute, making a subtle comment on Howe’s view of the Premier League contest.
Almiron has not tasted top-flight football for the past three matches and played only two minutes across United’s opening three. This emphasises the potential role he is to play throughout the campaign – bit-part.
Murphy might not be the most clinical of wingers, but he works his socks off and invariably puts in a decent shift. Almiron, too, embodies this approach, but it’s hard to make the case for him when he fails to grasp promising goalscoring opportunities and contribute to the overall flow of the attack.
A fully-fit Newcastle frontline would consist of Barnes, Gordon and Isak anyway. Back to the bench for Almiron.