Woltemade makes big impression while Leeds suffer hilarious new low in London

Nick Woltemade eased whatever misgivings Newcastle fans might have had over their record signing, while Leeds suffered their most calamitous defeat of many in London…

It was a busy afternoon, with five 3pm kick-offs in the Premier League which mustered a total of five goals.

One gave Newcastle fans a new hero, while the latest (and funniest) of the lot gave Leeds fans a familiar feeling in the capital.

Here’s the F365 3pm Blackout…

Newcastle 1-0 Wolves

We read Newcastle wrong. Actually, they were ‘buzzing’ before today, having rid themselves of their Isak problem. So, presumably, they are cock-a-hoop having watched the Swede’s replacement bag his first goal for the club in their first win of the season.

Nick Woltemade made all the difference for a Newcastle side sorely lacking a focal point in their attack through the first three matches. The German, making his debut following his £69million move from Stuttgart, showed some nice touches outside the box to emphasise that, despite his appearance, there’s more to him than a bloody massive frame. Not once did he give the ball away in the first half while, going the other way, he’s a willing chaser, making the most tackles of any player, despite playing three-quarters of the game.

There’s no shame, though, in Woltemade playing to his physical strengths which Wolves struggled to handle in the first period when the German won seven of eight duels, including all of his aerial battles.

That was his route to goal on the half-hour, when Jacob Murphy floated in a hopeful cross towards the far post, where Woltemade made his move, cleverly peeling off the Wolves centre-backs to thunder a header past Sam Johnstone. It was no easy finish. Woltemade had to generate all the power has he arched backwards away from goal.

Newcastle seemed to take great confidence from the new man’s big moment, after which Wolves’ threats became rare until the inevitable flurry at the end as they chased a first point of the season. The Magpies weathered the storm, though, to claim their first win. Happy days indeed.

Ian Watson

Fulham 1-0 Leeds

“We have to sign players,” pleaded Fulham boss Marco Silva before the transfer deadline. Which they eventually did. Not that you would know it from the side Silva selected.

Against Leeds, only one of their three outfield recruits featured on the team-sheet. Kevin made the bench but Samuel Chukweze was nowhere to be seen, despite Silva insisting that both would important for the Cottagers in the final third.

Without them, Fulham failed to muster a shot of any sort in the first half against a Leeds side perhaps surprised at how they were allowed to assume the ascendancy. Daniel Farke opted for an industrious rather than creative midfield, and the visitors were the better side before the break, despite struggling to turn their control into clear sights of Bernd Leno’s goal.

Leeds would come to rue that failure because Fulham were never going to be as passive after Silva’s half-time sermon. It still took them until 70 minutes to attempt a shot in open play, perhaps not surprising since there appeared to be more creativity on Fulham’s bench than their XI.

Emile Smith Rowe and Adama Traore helped Fulham push Leeds further back before Kevin was introduced with 12 minutes of normal time remaining. He used those dozen or so minutes to inject some desperately-needed flickers of creativity, his most decisive contribution being the winning of a 94th-minute corner that gave Fulham a win they did not deserve.

Leeds are well used to leaving London with nothing, but the manner and timing of this defeat – a bullet header own-goal in the 94th-minute – will send them north feeling sicker than ever. There were positives for Leeds: the first-half display and a stoic defensive performance when Fulham eventually woke up. But an all-too-familiar absence of threat in the final third remains the most urgent failing for Farke to correct.

Ian Watson

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Bournemouth 2-1 Brighton

Bournemouth moved joint top of the Premier League after Antoine Semenyo inspired them to a 2-1 win over Brighton.

Two weeks on from their 1-0 defeat of Spurs, Bournemouth picked up where they left off with a goal in the 18th minute from Adam Scott.

Semenyo played assistmaker this time, trapping the ball before rolling back into the path of Scott who found the net at the near post.

Fabian Hurzler’s afternoon went from bad to worse when he lost Jack Hinshelwood and Maxim de Cuyper to injury but whatever the 32-year-old said to his team at half time worked as Kaoru Mitoma levelled via a free header at the back post in the 48th minute.

But their momentum took a sizeable hit when Evanilson was brought down by Jan Paul van Hecke in the box and Semenyo scored from the spot to register his third goal of the season.

From then on, Brighton were unable to find a way back into the game, allowing Bournemouth to stretch their winning record to three in a row and move to third ahead of Chelsea’s game later.

Brighton meanwhile have proven to be one of the more unpredictable teams this season as they followed a 2-1 win at home to Manchester City with a defeat to the Cherries. Hurzler’s side is 12th on four points.

Sam Cooper

Crystal Palace 0-0 Sunderland

Crystal Palace and Sunderland won the race to be last on Match of the Day with a largely uneventful draw at Selhurst Park.

The main news pre-match was Marc Guehi making the starting lineup despite being a couple of signatures away from being a Liverpool player on deadline day but the club captain had little to deal with throughout as the Black Cats managed zero shots on target.

The best chance of the game fell to Daichi Kamada whose low shot from just outside the area was smartly saved by Robin Roefs in the 71st minute but Palace were also guilty of being wasteful.

It will be Sunderland who are the happier of the two and their record now reads two wins, a draw and a defeat in their return to the top flight. Palace, meanwhile, have drawn three out of their four games so far.

Sam Cooper

Everton 0-0 Aston Villa

Emi Martinez showed his importance to the Aston Villa team with a couple of great saves to earn his side a point away at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Having picked up the first Player of the Month award of his career, Jack Grealish failed to make a real impression on the game but his best chance came via a deflected shot which Martinez did well to block.

The play was more even in the second half but Villa continue to look blunt up front and their goal drought this season continues.

After the hour mark, the game turned scrappy with Lucas Digne growing a golf ball on his forehead after a collision with his own goalkeeper. Grealish also got into the book for his reaction to a referee’s decision while new signing Harvey Elliott was greeted to a chorus of boos given his Liverpool connection.

Michael Keane had a chance to win it in injury time but headed wide.

Sam Cooper