You suspect wasteful Newcastle United would not have equalised against Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday night if half an hour of stoppage time was added on. Alexander Isak, Jacob Murphy, Elliot Anderson and Chris Wood all had opportunities to find the back of the net in the FA Cup third-round tie over the course of 90 minutes. Yet, somehow, the Magpies only scored once, through substitute Bruno Guimaraes, in a shock 2-1 defeat at Hillsborough on Saturday.
It was another frustrating night in front of goal for Eddie Howe's side and Newcastle have now scored just five goals in their five games since the World Cup break. In other words, Newcastle have converted little more than a fifth of their 23 shots on target in that time.
Of the 75 efforts Newcastle have had, a whopping 52 shots were off target. Perhaps, then, it is not a coincidence that Newcastle have won just two of those matches although it is important to stress one result during this run was an impressive goalless draw at league leaders Arsenal.
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In contrast, in the five games before the tournament got under way in Qatar, Newcastle scored 11 goals from just 23 shots on target, which works out as a much better conversion rate of around 48%. While Howe's clinical side, tellingly, triumphed in all five of those fixtures, it is worth bearing in mind one of these matches was a penalty shootout win against Crystal Palace.
You can already tell there are caveats with these sorts of comparisons - that is before you mention the quality of chances and the standard of opposition - but even your eyes tell you that Newcastle are still rediscovering their goalscoring touch after the break in the season. That coolness in front of goal appeared to instantly return in the Premier League, following a superb 3-0 win at Leicester City on Boxing Day, when Chris Wood, Miguel Almiron and Joelinton all scored inside 32 minutes. However, since that afternoon, Newcastle have not been quite as potent in the final third and the Magpies have only scored once, when Bruno pulled one back at Wednesday.
Howe will at least take heart from how his side are creating opportunities, particularly when Callum Wilson, Allan Saint-Maximin and Alexander Isak have all been sidelined at various points in recent weeks. Immediately throwing Isak in from the start against Sheffield Wednesday showed how keen the Newcastle boss was to get his record signing match sharp again after four months out because goals are clearly needed. In truth, if Isak had a run of games behind him, Saturday's cup tie would have been put to bed by the time he went off at the break after the hungry striker saw two efforts kept out by goalkeeper Cameron Dawson in the first half.
Howe had also planned to start Saint-Maximin alongside Isak, but the Frenchman fell ill after training on Friday. Before you even address what Newcastle do or don't do in the transfer market the final weeks of the window, having these sorts of match winners available will be crucial in the weeks to come. After all, opposition sides are finding new ways to disrupt Newcastle's rhythm as Leeds and Sheffield Wednesday did at times, despite giving up so many chances, so Howe needs imaginative solutions.
It is easy to forget that Isak and Saint-Maximin have yet to play together - the pair have started just nne games for Newcastle between them this season - but they will have a huge say on where their side ultimately end up in the second half of the campaign. Indeed, Howe even admitted that the result against Wednesday could have been 'potentially different' if Newcastle were able to call upon Saint-Maximin, who he referred to, like Isak, as a 'game-changer'.
While Saturday's shock defeat highlighted a lack of depth in a number of areas for Newcastle, the Magpies will soon have serious options up front if they manage to finally get all their forwards fit and firing at the same time. That prospect once felt a long way away, but it will soon become a reality.
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