Leeds 4 Newcastle 1 – Tuesday 14 September 2026 8pm
An abject first half performance left Newcastle United with a huge uphill task, trailing by three goals to nil at half time, eventually succumbing 4-1 at Elland Road tonight.
There were too many under par performances this evening.
Botman had a shocker, the midfield duo of Miley and Steur looked all at sea, whilst Barnes, Wissa and Murphy offered little. Long balls comfortably dealt with by the Leeds defence, Fernandez-Pardo with a debut to forget.
Losing Nico Gonzalez in the 19th minute didn’t help, the Spaniard replaced by Sean Steur after going off with concussion and that’s when United’s problems came into sharp focus, the midfield looking lightweight and completely overrun by a Leeds side who ruthlessly exploited the situation.
That said, Leeds’ first goal came in somewhat fortuitous circumstances, Tanaka’s strike deflecting off both Sean Steur and Lewis Miley, Hornicek wrong-footed and left with no chance as the home side edged in front.
Two minutes later, Steur’s wayward pass led to the ball finding James Justin wide on the right, his cross met by a combination of Dominic Calvert Lewin and Jayden Bogle, and Hornicek was beaten again.
Before conceding, Hornicek had saved from Bogle, the United keeper showing fantastic reflexes, seeing the ball late before deftly turning it round the post.
Then at 0-2, the young Czech was called upon again, this time making a double save from Gudmundsson and Calvert-Lewin as Leeds continued to dominate.
Those saves might have proved crucial had Harvey Barnes reduced the arrears in the 41st minute but his shot was blocked by Muharemovic and in added on time, the Bosnian defender assisted Calvert-Lewin who turned Botman to slot the ball past Hornicek for 3-0.
Things went from bad to worse when Leeds added a fourth on the hour through Okafor, his neat finish coming from an Ampadu long throw which the United defence was unable to cope with.
That came immediately after Jaissle had made a triple substitution. Willock, Toure and Livramento replacing Fernandez-Pardo, Murphy and Dedic.
Whether it was Leeds taking their foot off the gas or the substitutions, United’s performance improved somewhat, culminating in Toure grabbing a consolation six minutes from time, the Ivorian scoring from a Livramento cross.
So, the unbeaten run is over, time for a reality check and it’s clear that the 2.0 version of Newcastle United lacks something; we looked brittle tonight and were outplayed and outmuscled for long periods. Put simply, we were unable to cope when Leeds were on the front foot.
Saturday therefore can’t come soon enough.
Hull City might have made a fantastic start to life back in the Premier League but Newcastle United have the opportunity to quickly bounce back and get tonight’s horror show out of their system.
In the immediate aftermath of such a chastening defeat, it was also heartening to hear the manager suggest there’ll be no crisis of confidence either.
Leeds 4 Newcastle 1 – Tuesday 14 September 2026 8pm
Match Stats
Goals:
Toure 90
Leeds United:
Lewis Miley OG 32, Bogle 34, Calvert-Lewin 45+1, Okafor 59
Possession was Newcastle 49% Leeds 51%
Total shots were Newcastle 7 Leeds 15
Shots on target were Newcastle 5 Leeds 6
Corners were Newcastle 5 Leeds 5
Touches in the opposition box Newcastle 18 Leeds 30
Newcastle team v Leeds:
Hornicek, Dedic (Livramento 58), Thiaw, Botman, Hall, Lewis Miley (Bamba 80), Gonzalez (Steur 19), Murphy (Toure 57), Wissa, Barnes, Fernandez-Pardo (Willock 57)
Unused subs:
Pope, Schar, Ramsey, Mason Miley