Newcastle United were beaten 2-1 by Bayer Leverkusen at St James' Park in the first leg of the VisitMalta Weekender. Ibrahim Maza opened the scoring inside the opening minute as he lashed a left-footed effort past Lukas Hornicek from the edge of the penalty box.
United hit back when Malick Thiaw headed home at the far post from Anthony Elanga's deep corner to level the scoring just before half-time but they could not build on it in the second half. Leverkusen found the winning goal as Victor Boniface rolled the ball past Hornicek to seal victory. All eyes are now on the Newcastle XI Matthias Jaissle picks against Strasbourg tomorrow and whether any of those players can force their way into his starting XI against Liverpool next weekend.
Jaissle effect taking hold
Jaissle promised aggressive, intense, front-footed football with a high press and we started to see the first shoots of that against Leverkusen. In the first half, Elanga drove his team's press and raced forward to close down goalkeeper Mark Flekken and forced the Dutch international to put the ball into touch, rather than finding a Leverkusen team-mate. That drew fevered applause from Jaissle and he was even happier moments later, when Newcastle won the ball deep in Leverkusen's half from a goal-kick.
The front four of Elanga, Nick Woltemade, Yoane Wissa and Harvey Barnes were joined by midfielder Lewis Miley as they camped on top of the Leverkusen penalty box. Flekken went short, and all five players initiated the press and won the ball back which almost led to a chance. It is brave, it is risky, but if it pays off, it could lead to some big chances for Newcastle this season. Expect to see more of that under Jaissle. In the second half, Leverkusen dallied on the ball just in front of the halfway line and Jaissle screamed: 'Wiss, higher!' Wissa reacted, won the ball and fed in Woltemade who could only fire straight at Flekken.
Mason Miley moment Jaissle loved
Newcastle may be closing in on the signing of Amar Dedic from Benfica, but Mason Miley sent a reminder of his abilities at right-back against Leverkusen. The 17-year-old, like older brother, Lewis, is a midfielder by trade but can do an effective job at right-back and he put in an impressive display at St James' Park.
He almost created a goal for Wissa in the first half, with his clever clipped cross teeing the DR Congo international up for a volley on close range. But he also did well defensively, too, and when he boxed in Leverkusen left-back Miguel Gutierrez deep into their own half in the first half, Jaissle loved it, shouting: 'Yes, Mason!' Dedic will surely start against Liverpool if his signing is confirmed in time, but Miley may have stepped ahead of Leo Shahar in the queue to be his deputy while Tino Livramento continues his recovery. The Carabao Cup second round match against West Brom later this month has to be a target for the 17-year-old to make his competitive debut for the club.
Leadership group hint
Thiaw was named as Newcastle captain for the second time in the last three games and while Dan Burn has been named the club captain ahead of the new season, and Joelinton as vice-captain, Thiaw will surely be favourite to be named in the revamped leadership group. He marked the occasion with a goal, rising highest to Anthony Elanga's corner to head past Mark Flekken at the back post to score Newcastle's equaliser in the first half.
The Germany international looks to have won Jaissle's early trust although it will be interesting to see who wears the armband for tomorrow's clash against Strasbourg.
Duo keen to come good but there remains one big worry
Elanga and Wissa have come back this summer with a point to prove and across pre-season their performances offer some room for hope. The pair enjoyed positive World Cups for their countries and Elanga created the goal today and Wissa looked sharp again as they both look to prove why Newcastle paid a combined £110million to sign them last summer.
Getting the best out of Woltemade is proving a more difficult task, though. He cut an anonymous figure for the third successive pre-season game and surely is in danger of missing out of the starting XI next weekend. Newcastle's lack of creativity is a problem and the biggest concern right now is where the goals are going to come from this season. It said a lot that United created two gilt-edged chances after Sean Neave, who is expected to spend the season elsewhere on loan, replaced him. On the other side of the pitch, Maza - who opened the scoring - was a creative weapon for Leverkusen all afternoon, picking up pockets of dangerous space and looking for incisive passes all afternoon.
NUFC change kits at hydration break
When referee Michael Oliver blew his whistle in the 23rd minute for a hydration break, it was met with boos inside St James' Park before chants from the Gallowgate End of: 'What the f****** hell is that?'
Newcastle then took the chance to change from their home shirt into their lilac third shirts for the rest of the match. This was not a commercially driven decision, though, rather to fix a colour clash with the Magpies' black-and-white shirts deemed too similar to Leverkusen's light green shirt, both inside the stadium and for those fans watching on the club TV stream.
