Woltemade denied ‘clear’ penalty at Bournemouth: Howe claims after goalless draw against the Cherries yesterday.
Nick Woltemade might be a lot of things at once. He is a skilled finisher, an aerial presence, and an efficient playmaker. He isn’t Alexander Isak, though. After Newcastle’s third straight away goalless draw in the league against Bournemouth, Eddie Howe acknowledged that his club will need some time to get used to their new striker.
Although Andoni Iraola’s team mainly neutralised the threat offered by Woltemade, Newcastle’s record acquisition who scored on his debut against Wolves, the tall Germany striker nevertheless caused trouble. When the tall Germany striker looked to have Bafodé Diakité tug his shirt in the penalty area after putting down Tino Livramento’s cross, the travelling fans became enraged.
“It’s a really strange occurrence, three 0-0s away from home for us,” Howe said. “We’re going to be a different team attacking-wise this year without Alex. I think that’s not why we haven’t scored in three away games but we’ll be attacking with a different emphasis. We’re evolving into a different team, hopefully a better team. That’s the plan. But it may take a bit of time.”
“My gut instinct was that it was a penalty,” Howe said. “I was adamant that it was. The fact that he was tugged and it stopped him from getting a shot off … for me, it was a clear penalty.”
“We can’t look at it as a starting XI,” Howe said of his squad rotation. “If you look at our schedule, it’s relentless. We’re playing every midweek up until Christmas, so it’s going to be the squad that carries us to success, not 11 players.”