Joelinton’s lack of touches, and the midfielder surrender – Newcastle’s victory over Blackburn in numbers

Newcastle United are through to Third Round of the EFL Cup after defeating Blackburn 1-0 at St James’ Park.

In a game which Rovers dominated, Newcastle were fortunate to progress and set up a tie against League Two side Morecambe.

The only goal of the game thanks to debutant Ryan Fraser, who latched onto a Miguel Almiron pass and placed it past the keeper.

There were few other moments of attacking note from United but Mark Gillespie who was also making his Toon debut was called into action twice to stop Blackburn getting level.

Here’s the game in numbers.

Read More Related Articles Read More Related Articles 1 touch – Joelinton was nowhere to be seen in the box

Joelinton was given the chance to impress knowing that, barring injury or severe loss of form, summer signing Callum Wilson will keep him out of the XI.

The United number nine, however, failed to take his chance. In a team that saw so many changes – 10 in total – things were always going to be disjointed but with a potent forward, there is always a chance.

Sadly, United didn’t have that. Joelinton managed just one touch in the box – that came in the 19th minute – and it was a pass. The Brazilian actually had more touches in his own box (2) than the opposition’s in the 73 minutes he had on the pitch.

Put this into perspective – Callum Wilson had eight touches in the box, including a goal, in his debut against West Ham.

There was a couple of instances against Blackburn where the ball was flashed across the box – and Joelinton was nowhere to be seen.

The lesson? Joelinton really isn’t a centre forward.

6 – the numbers of dribbles by Newcastle United

Now this might not seem significant, after all only certain players (hello, Allan Saint-Maximin ) are at home running at the defence but when you compare this to the fact Blackburn had 20 dribbles to Newcastle’s six then it becomes important.

Blackburn had a 50% success rate while United’s was slightly higher at 66% – two of the four coming from subs Jacob Murphy and Allan Saint-Maximin – but given they had much fewer attempts it’s no surprise.

The stats here show who was more dominant, more attacking minded and who had more intent to hurt the opposition.

At home, against a Championship side, crowd or not, that’s not really acceptable.

270 – the difference in passes between the two sides, in Blackburn’s favour

Newcastle United made 369 passes to Blackburn’s 639, a total difference of 270.

Just a reminder, Newcastle were at home and the Premier League side.

It’s another sign of the dominance of the away side, and throws the question of whether United are going to revert to the old way of soaking up the pressure and hitting on the counter.

They got away with it tonight but only thanks to Blackburn’s failure to net one of the several chances they created.

United afforded Blackburn’s midfielder far too much time – the trio of Holtby, Travis and Rothwell put together 226 passes compared to just the 128 of United’s starting four.

Simply not good enough.

4 – the number of clearances made by Ciaran Clark and Emil Krafth

Despite the negatives, there was some praise for Ciaran Clark and Emil Krafth who partnered in the centre of defence.

Krath has never looked overly comfortable in this role, and while Blackburn battered the defence, the pair stood tall.

Both made four clearances a piece, while Clark made two interceptions – one crucial one early in the second half when Ben Brereton was yards from goal.

It was a welcome return to action for Clark who hadn’t played since February.