It was a case of Boxing Day Blues for Newcastle United as they trudged away from Old Trafford with none of the spoils. A depleted Manchester United had claimed victory in the Premier League despite intense away pressure in the late knockings of the match.

This is, frankly, a bitter one to swallow. Newcastle’s wretched away form has continued, and the heat will be rising for Eddie Howe as his team slip further and further away from Champions League contention.

Luckily, the January transfer window looms just ahead, and with Magpies sporting director Ross Wilson scanning about for fresh quality, some Newcastle players are placing themselves in a tough position with some poor performances.

Newcastle's worst performers at Old Trafford

Since replacing Alexander Isak at number nine last summer, Nick Woltemade has been a revelation, offering hope that he might develop into the same calibre of striker at St. James’ Park. He’s excellent, but not infallible, and that was clear after a tame performance against Man United.

Woltemade did not manage a shot, lost all four ground duels and failed with each of his three attempted dribbles. He completed eight passers before being replaced by Yoane Wissa after the hour mark. Wissa, luckily, is an invaluable attacking weapon to utilise over the second half of the season.

Lewis Miley struggled against Matheus Cunha in his latest stand-in showing at right-back. It is easy to forget that he is a teenage midfielder, and it unfortunately showed against the Red Devils.

Sandro Tonali, too, has struggled for form of late, and this is a concern, given the elite level he had maintained across the first months of the campaign and en route to glory last season. This has knocked the balance off kilter.

However, there were two English stars in particular who flattered to deceive, and they simply cannot start together again in this current framing.

The Newcastle duo who can't start together again

Newcastle have some problems, alright, and it’s more than just individual blunders. While they dominated after the break, the Toon still need more fluency and balance, and Anthony Gordon and Jacob Ramsey are doing little to settle the levels on Tyneside right now.

Having joined Newcastle from Aston Villa for £42.5m during the summer, Ramsey, 24, has yet to show that his new side have paid well, starting three of the past four Premier League fixtures but leaving something to be desired nonetheless.

More experienced is Gordon, who claimed Newcastle’s Player of the Year in 2023/24 after hitting 21 goal involvements in that Premier League campaign. Last year was difficult for the Three Lions star, and he’s toiling once more this term, especially away from home.

Gordon huffed and puffed but failed to produce anything tangible once again. Likewise, Ramsey played an industrious role in the middle of the park but struggled to offer effective creative support; he was hooked for Joelinton before 70 minutes had been clocked.

Gordon & Ramsey vs Man United

Stats

Gordon

Ramsey

Minutes played

90′

68′

Goals

0

0

Assists

0

0

Touches

56

41

Shots (on target)

2 (0)

0 (0)

Accurate passes

28/34 (82%)

28/31 (90%)

Chances created

3

0

Crosses

2/10

0/0

Possession lost

18x

5x

Dribbles

2/3

1/2

Recoveries

2

5

Tackles + interceptions

1/1

2/4

Duels won

3/8

4/7

Data via Sofascore

The Shields Gazette handed both Englishmen 5/10 match scores after they respectively failed to contribute effectively in attack. Indeed, Ramsey’s solid defensive numbers and crispness in possession were overruled by an inability to connect the thirds together. Gordon, meanwhile, only connected with two of his ten attempted crosses, and he missed a great chance to score himself.

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Gordon remains a tenacious player, working hard, but he’s undeniably wasteful, and until he rediscovers a Midas touch in the danger area, he needs support from a midfielder who is willing to create and help influence in attack.

Football is inherently fickle, and it would be silly to write Ramsey off indelibly. However, he really needs to offer much more, and until we see some new and improved version of the English midfielder, there’s simply no way he can start with Gordon on the left-hand side.

Gordon, of course, has flattered to deceive himself and then some.

Related He's like Anderson: Newcastle make £410k-per-week midfielder a key target

Newcastle’s up-and-down campaign has underlined the need for January investment.

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Darren Cousins roared in with a sensational three-wicket burst at Wantage Road to earn in-form Northamptonshire a victory that virtually assures them of promotion into the Championship’s Division One for next season.The former Essex paceman snapped up Gloucestershire’s last three wickets – Martyn Ball, Jon Lewis and Tom Cotterell – in the space of nine deliveries with the second new ball, seeing Northants home by an innings and 74 runs with ten balls to spare.The visitors looked to be heading for safety at 202-7 with eleven overs of the final hour gone, but Cousins then induced a fatal error from Ball who miscued an attempted pull, and the two tail-enders were dispatched swiftly.It was a fifth straight Championship win for Matthew Hayden’s men, who have extended their lead at the top of the second division table with two rounds of matches remaining.Off-spinners Jason Brown and Alec Swann made important early inroads, Brown dismissing opener Tim Hancock with his first ball of the morning as Gloucestershire crumbled to 110-5 either side of lunch, despite a battling 39 from Dominic Hewson.Skipper Mark Alleyne (18) and Jack Russell (41) held the fort for an hour-and-three-quarters until Hayden produced a master stroke by calling up veteran seamer Paul Taylor to bowl his occasional left-arm spin. The move paid off handsomely as Alleyne edged to Hayden himself at slip, and Russell was bowled looking to cut.Jeremy Snape (23 not out) looked set to deny his former county, but Cousins swept away Gloucestershire’s remaining batsmen to clinch a magnificent win.

The Otago Under-14 girls’ team has been named for next month’s Southern Zone series in Christchurch.The team is: Olivia Bates, Suzie Bates, Kylie Griffiths, Noelene Harry, Samara Heaney, Ashleigh Jamieson, Rebecca King, Shannon King, Amber Laking, Una Madden, Joanna Meyer, Courtney Winsloe.The tournament will be played in Christchurch from January 14-18.

Legspinner Karn Sharma has been ruled out of India’s tour of Zimbabwe due to a fractured finger in his left hand. The BCCI said there would not be a replacement, which means India will now have only 14 players to pick from for the three ODIs and two T20s.”It is unfortunate for Karn that he had to miss out because of injury,” India captain Ajinkya Rahane said. “He was a crucial part of our team.”Rahane said the reduction in squad strength didn’t make selection any easier. “It is not easy as a captain to select 11 players because all the players in the squad are equally important for the captain and it is really challenging to pick the best 11.”Karn had played the fourth and fifth ODIs of the home series against Sri Lanka in November last year, taking no wickets for 125 runs in 19 overs. His unavailability leaves India with only two spin options – offspinner Harbhajan Singh and left-armer Axar Patel – for the series in Zimbabwe.India depart for Harare on July 7 and are scheduled to play ODIs on July 10, 12 and 14, followed by Twenty20 internationals on July 17 and 19. Rahane was named captain of a second-string squad that was missing MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, R Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan and Umesh Yadav.Revised squad: Ajinkya Rahane (capt), M Vijay, Ambati Rayudu, Manoj Tiwary, Kedar Jadhav, Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Harbhajan Singh, Axar Patel, Dhawal Kulkarni, Stuart Binny, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohit Sharma, Sandeep Sharma

The Bangladesh Cricket Board will issue show-cause notices to Elias Sunny and Nadif Chowdhury after they participated in a private Twenty20 tournament last month in the USA without the board’s permission. The tournament also featured Mohammad Ashraful, who was banned by the BCB last year for his role in fixing during the 2013 Bangladesh Premier League. Sunny and Nadif will also be summoned before the board’s disciplinary committee, according to media committee chairman Jalal Yunus.Sunny and Nadif, who are contracted first-class cricketers with the BCB, played in a T20 tournament in Michigan along with two other Bangladeshi players, Shaker Ahmed and Tapash Baisya. Ashraful, who was given a five-year ban last year, was a team-mate of these four players in Michigan, and also played a celebrity cricket tournament in July with at least nine current and former Bangladesh cricketers. The BCB, however, didn’t comment on whether current players can play alongside a banned cricketer in the same tournament.”We will showcause [sic] both Sunny and Nadif for playing without the permission of the BCB,” Yunus said. “Later it will be referred to the disciplinary committee who will summon them. Every player knows that they must take prior permission from the BCB to play in any tournament abroad.”He added that their participation in the forthcoming domestic season will depend on the outcome of the disciplinary committee hearing.Rajasthan Royals cricketer Pravin Tambe was one of the cricketers who played in a private T20 tournament in New Jersey that also featured Ashraful. Tambe, however, is unlikely to face any sanctions because of the nebulous state of affairs in the USA Cricket Association.In July, the BCB had sought an explanation from Sabbir Rahman for playing in a celebrity cricket tournament in July although a decision on the matter is still pending.

Craig Overton has received an automatic two-match suspension after an ECB cricket discipline commission examined a disturbing disciplinary record which has brought three umpiring reports in a single season.The suspension is a blow to Somerset, who are not yet safe from relegation, and will cause further concern about the on-field behaviour of Overton, who has been called up, along with his brother Jamie, for an England fast bowlers camp in South Africa in November.Overton was reported by umpires Alex Wharf and Ian Gould during Somerset’s LV= Championship match against Sussex this week for a Level One breach of the directives: using language that is obscene, offensive or insulting and/or making an obscene gesture.He has now received a total of nine penalty points and is suspended from Somerset’s Championship match against Warwickshire on 22-25 September 2015 and also from the first match in the 2016 programme. Somerset meet Warwickshire at Taunton, and although they lie sixth they still need seven points to be assured of safety irrespective of other results.Overton had previously breached the fixed penalty directives on two occasions in 2015. The penalty for a further breach at Level 1 within 24 months is three penalty points. These penalty points will remain on his record for a period of two years.

ScorecardFile photo: Mitchell McClenaghan ended with match figures of 7 for 106•Getty Images

Auckland’s fast bowlers Mitchell McClenaghan and Matthew Quinn picked up seven wickets each, setting the tone for Auckland’s nine-wicket victory against Canterbury. Auckland were also buoyed by half-centuries from Colin de Grandhomme, Brad Cachopa and Martin Guptill, as the team opened their Plunket Shield campaign strongly.Canterbury, after being inserted, failed to string together any meaningful partnership, and were bundled out for 149, as McClenaghan (4 for 38) and Quinn (3 for 34) ran through the line-up in 48.1 overs. Auckland found themselves struggling at 50 for 3 in their reply, but three big stands – 82 for the fourth wicket between de Grandhomme (70) and Rob Nicol, 68 for the fifth between Nicol and Cachopa (61), and 68 for the eighth between Tarun Nethul and Michael Bates – ensured the hosts posted a total of 316 to collect a lead of 167.Canterbury fared better in the second innings, thanks mainly to a 109-run partnership between Leo Carter (79) and Ken McClure (50), but once again, regular strikes from McClenaghan and Quinn prevented the visitors from pulling away with a large score. Canterbury were eventually bowled out for 321, meaning that Auckland needed just 155 for victory, a total the hosts chased down in 37 overs thanks to Guptill’s unbeaten 94-ball 84.
ScorecardA maiden double-century from Central Districts’ 24-year-old batsman Ben Smith was the highlight of their drawn game against Otago in Napier. In a game that saw 1267 runs scored, it was Otago, opting to bat, who made the early running. Buoyed by a 157-run stand between Sam Wells and James Neesham, the hosts compiled 352. Neesham went on to make 131 off 152 balls, while Otago were also lifted by handy half-centuries from Hamish Rutherford (79*) and Wells (62). Doug Bracewell was the pick of Central Districts’ bowlers, collecting 5 for 67.Central Districts lost Greg Hay early in their reply, but Smith battled on for more than eight hours, scoring 244 off 368 balls, with 29 fours and a six. He shared a mammoth 234-run stand for the fourth wicket with George Worker, who made 129. Will Young (62) and Tom Bruce (71) also chipped in with half-centuries, as Central Districts eventually declared on 650 for 8.With a lead of 298, Central Districts had nearly 90 overs to bowl Otago out and seal an innings win, and looked well on course to doing that by removing Rutherford and Ryan Duffy early. However, Neil Broom held firm, scoring a patient 131, and put on a 204-run partnership with Brad Wilson to guide his team to safety. Otago were 265 for 3 when stumps were called.
ScorecardTim Southee and Trent Boult took 12 wickets together as Northern Districts drew with Wellington and walked away with seven points in their season opener.Right-arm seamer Dane Hutchinson also picked up a five-wicket haul, including a hat-trick, to clean up the Northern Districts tail but by then the first-innings lead had passed 150.Captain Daniel Flynn and Kane Williamson gave Northern Districts a strong base, adding 148. While Williamson became the first of Jeetan Patel’s three victims, Flynn went on to make 102 off 239 balls. Bharat Popli and BJ Watling also scored fifties to steer their side to 429 before Hutchinson became the first Wellington bowler to take a hat-trick since Stephen Hotter in 1997.However, it could not mask the top-order failure in the first innings. Having been inserted, Wellington were reduced to 47 for 5 inside 18 overs with Southee doing the bulk of the damage. However, a rearguard stand of 108 between Tom Blundell and Luke Ronchi helped the visitors recover to 267. Luke Ronchi was the eighth man dismissed for 115 off 112 balls.The batting line-up fared much better in the second innings with each of their batsmen, with the exception of No.9 reaching double-figures. Boult accounted for Stephen Murdoch (93), Blundell (46), and Ronchi (15) but Wellington nudged past 400 before stumps on the fourth day.

A match that held most people at the Harare Sports Club on edge came to an end as a result of bad light, and Zimbabwe beat Pakistan to level the series by a narrow margin of five runs.”The umpire couldn’t see the ball, so he was telling the Pakistan batsmen that ‘we’re going off’,” Elton Chigumbura said. Pakistan needed 21 off 12 at that point, but Zimbabwe were eventually ruled winners after Duckworth-Lewis calculations. “In the game of cricket, you can’t relax until the very last ball. But there were a few chances that we didn’t take when we were fielding, and that’s why they ended up getting so close.”They showed some good fight, and they didn’t give up even when they’d lost six wickets early, which is cricket, and which is what you want from your team: to not give up. After the good start we had with the ball, they were under pressure. We just had to maintain that.”Chigumbura took a wicket in his third over today to snap a 111-run stand between Shoaib Malik and Aamer Yamin that had threatened to take the game away from Zimbabwe. He hadn’t bowled a ball in an international match for almost seven months but may well have ended up bowling the final over had the match gone the distance.But Chigumbura probably wouldn’t have bowled at all had legspinner Graeme Cremer not injured his ankle earlier in the afternoon. Cremer had taken a wicket with his second ball, aided by a diving catch by John Nyumbu at slip, and had found both turn and bounce off the pitch.”Definitely, that pitch would have assisted Cremer big time,” Chigumbura said. “They had confidence that we were a bowler short, and [Sikandar] Raza couldn’t bowl as well because he’d been off the field for an hour or more. So we just had to make use of the guys who were available to bowl. That’s why it was almost like a blessing in disguise that I ended up bowling as well and getting that wicket. We went back on top again after that.”Chigumbura had Yamin caught behind for 62 and then ran Wahab Riaz out to rally his side. “Obviously I should be bowling more,” he said. “It gives me confidence, what I was able to do today. I haven’t been bowling in matches for a long time, though I have been practicing my bowling and working on it. I guess today was just the right time to get the ball and have a bowl. Luckily enough, I managed to get a wicket. But we knew that we just had to take the chance that would be coming, because [Yamin] gave a couple of half chances.”Though it came in controversial circumstances, coach Dav Whatmore insisted Zimbabwe’s victory was a “fantastic effort”.”When it all clicks, it’s great,” Whatmore said. “Before the game started we had a lot negativity towards us, and in some ways it was justified, in other ways I’m not sure. But to turn it around in the way we did with the bat in that first half was just a fantastic effort given the situation that the boys were in at the start of the day. Losing the toss, being asked to bat, and to perform like that and get the score that we did was really heartening.”Raza and Elton capitalised on the hard work that was done at the top of the order. You can just see [Brian Chari’s] confidence slowly increasing. He’s going to be playing some good innings in the future if he continues to learn like he has done. And Tino [Mutombodzi’s] run out was fantastic, almost a game changer, the way he dived and stopped it to get [Mohammad] Hafeez. Pure skill. Elton had a decent one too. A lot of good things. It was unfortunate that the game finished in the way it did, but there were a lot of good things and positives today.”

Match facts

Saturday, October 24
Start time 9.30am local (0730 GMT)Can Afghanistan topple a Full Member?•AFP

Big Picture

An ODI against Afghanistan in Bulawayo does not, perhaps, quite fit with traditional ideas about a marquee final, and there won’t be quite the same build-up for Saturday’s game as there will be for India and South Africa’s match at the Wankhede, but context is everything here. For Afghanistan (who can be the first Associate to beat a Full Member in a multi-game bilateral ODI series), for Zimbabwe (who do not want to be at the receiving end of that first), for Bulawayo, this is a big match – and it’s impossible to pick a favourite.These teams traded heavy blows in the first two games, with Zimbabwe trampling over the visitors in the first game, and Mohammad Nabi’s maiden ODI hundred setting up a resounding victory over the hosts in the second. Since then, they have drawn closer together, Zimbabwe winning the third game with just two balls to spare and Afghanistan stumbling to a nervous, three-wicket win in the fourth.Zimbabwe have the advantage by playing at their home ground with – theoretically – superior batsmen and a trio of left-arm spinners who have taken 19 wickets in four games, but Afghanistan are matchless in their belief in their own abilities. Cricket being a game played as much in the mind as it is on the field, strange things can happen when pressure and expectation combine.As a group, and despite the superior experience within their ranks, Zimbabwe’s batsmen have also underperformed throughout this series and 229 is their highest total in four games. Both of the matches they have won were set up by their bowlers, particularly the spinners, and it was in the field that Zimbabwe were eventually able to wrest some control back on Thursday.Afghanistan have a couple of quality spinners of their own, with Amir Hamza taking six wickets in four games and Rashid Khan getting through his overs of craft and guile at just 3.73 runs an over. Seamer Dawlat Zadran has also proved reliable with both the new and the the old ball.It might be tempting for Zimbabwean supporters to suggest that Afghanistan have played above themselves on this tour but, apart from their 58-run win in the second game, that is not really the case. But they have been typically relentless in their pursuit of glory. Earlier this season, Zimbabwe batting coach Bundu Waller spoke about hunger and desire being key to success. Afghanistan have it in spades, and now is the time for Zimbabwe to show just how much they want this.

Form guide

Zimbabwe LWLWL (last five completed games most recent first)
Afghanistan WLWLL

In the spotlight

Tendai Chisoro is the leading wicket-taker in this series, with nine scalps at 15.00, and an economy of 3.85, in the 35 overs he has bowled. It’s a successful start to his international career, and one he might not have envisaged when he made his first-class debut as a teenager more than nine years ago. Chisoro was a pace bowler then, and continued to be for several seasons before Dave Houghton, who was his coach at Mountaineers, prompted a turn to spin. Problematic back and ankle injuries sealed the move, and Chisoro now finds himself as one of Zimbabwe’s pivotal bowlers as a spinner.With a major series on the line, the potential for Afghanistan to over-excite themselves and lose focus in the face of the occasion could be high, and the role of captain Asghar Stanikzai will be an important one. Stanikzai has a couple of senior players, including two former captains, to help him and he will have been buoyed by Afghanistan’s successes in the series so far. Stanikzai has had a somewhat quiet series with the bat, amid a struggling middle order, and he could also do with some runs to cap the occasion.

Team news

Despite their defeat on Thursday, Zimbabwe are not in the position to make any sudden changes and their playing XI is likely to remain the same.Zimbabwe: (probable) 1 Chamu Chibhabha, 2 Richmond Mutumbami (wk), 3 Craig Ervine, 4 Elton Chigumbura (capt), 5 Sean Williams, 6 Sikandar Raza, 7 Tino Mutombodzi, 8 Luke Jongwe, 9 Tendai Chisoro, 10 Wellington Masakadza, 11 Tinashe Panyangara.Barring an injury, Afghanistan also probably won’t change their side. Nawroz Mangal continues to struggle with his form, getting out for single figures as Afghanistan stumbled in the last match, but as a senior player and former captain, they will probably want him around for a crunch match.Afghanistan: (probable) 1 Noor Ali Zadran, 2 Mohammad Shahzad (wk), 3 Mohammad Nabi, 4 Asghar Stanikzai (capt), 5 Hashmatullah Shahidi/Najibullah Zadran, 6 Samiullah Shenwari, 7 Shafiqullah, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Amir Hamza, 10 Dawlat Zadran, 11 Aftab Alam.

Pitch and conditions

The amount of turn on offer on the Queens Sports Club pitches has surprised many during this series and, given the trajectory of the series so far, the pitch used is likely to play in a similar manner. It might not rag quite as square as the one used on Thursday, which was also the same track upon which Zimbabwe bowled Afghanistan out for 122 in the first game, but the ability to play slow bowling will be vital to success.The weather is predicted to be warm and sunny throughout.

Stats and trivia

• Zimbabwe and Afghanistan have now played eight ODIs against each other, winning four each
• The top three run-scorers in this series are also Afghanistan’s top three in their batting order. Mohammad Nabi (170 runs), Mohammad Shahzad (150) and Noor Ali Zadran (148) have all found conditions to their liking
• In five-match bilateral series, Zimbabwe have found themselves at 2-2 against India, West Indies and Bangladesh, but have never won the decider. Afghanistan have never played a five-match bilateral ODI series before, playing in series of four games against Zimbabwe and UAE in the past.

Quotes

“We’ve beaten a Full Member [twice] in four matches, so I’m proud of my boys. I’m proud of my team.”
“The want and the value in their wickets [for the batsmen] is not as high as it should be.”

The Springboks were 0-2 down and it was a must win situation for them at Faridabad, to stay in the series. With the plan of defending targets not succeeding in the earlier games, Cronje had to come up with a different ploy. He decided to back his batting and opted to chase on winning the toss. The wicket at Faridabad was different than it normally is, providing a bit of bounce and movement for the seamers early on, but Ganguly countered it with some magnificent shots.He is aware that his strength is in playing through the offside and he smashed the South African seamers at will after giving himself room. Tendulkar, trying to graft out a big score, looked solid but was trapped by Shaun Pollock. This brought Dravid to the crease early on, providing him the opportunity to play a long innings. He always puts a price on his wicket and the fall of Ganguly and Azharuddin meant that Dravid had to play the sheet anchor role, which suits him. Dravid, along with Jadeja, kept things ticking over with the South Africans slowly sneaking back into the game. Some sensible batting towards the end by Joshi and Dighe produced 75 runs in the last 10 overs to give the Indians a competitive score.There was always a chance that the Springboks, in trying to get the runs, would mess things up. Kirsten, the experienced opener, took upon the responsibility of keeping one end going after losing his partner Gibbs. Boje played a brief but belligerent innings to up the tempo but the Indians dismissed him and Kallis in quick succession. At this stage, the match was developing into more of a game of chess and the team which held the nerve better was going to emerge victorious. Cronje, the ever positive batsman in one-dayers regardless of his form, went after the Indian attack and at one stage the South Africans were cruising.Tendulkar got rid of Cronje and the late middle order collapse brought the Indians back into the game. The lack of a genuine fifth bowler proved to be a major handicap and Ganguly had to press Dravid into the attack. Dravid castled Pollock but that wicket came a bit late in the day. Strydom, having a nightmare of a tour, must have learnt a thing or two about something called pressure. He had Boucher, as solid as a rock amidst all the excitement, at the other end. Strydom managed to scamper for a single and it was left to the wicket keeper to complete the formalities.Boucher may be young, but his temperament is absolutely incredible. He finished the match in style by pulling Dravid into the stands. The idea of making Dravid bowl the final over was baffling because the regular bowlers had not completed their quota of overs. The lack of confidence in Kumaran might have made Ganguly resort to Dravid. Be that as it may, Ganguly should be lauded for not letting the game drift. His boys made a fight of it till the end, which was refreshing to see. The South Africans deserve all the credit as they were under pressure throughout the match, but they handled it well enough to pull off a thrilling victory.