One winner, one loser from Newcastle’s draw to Cardiff

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Newcastle United had an eventful afternoon in Cardiff and there will be mixed feelings about the final result. The game finished as a goalless draw after the visitors had a player sent off. Based on that, it would look to be a good result, but the Magpies missed a penalty in the last minute to take all three points.

It was an underwhelming display from Newcastle, as they were second best for long periods and didn’t offer as much of a goal threat as they did against Tottenham. Rafa Benitez will be disappointed by the performance and will have got that point across to his players at full-time. Below we discuss a winner and loser from the match at the Cardiff City Stadium.

Winner – Jamaal Lascelles

There was a lot of interest from other clubs during the summer, but Jamaal Lascelles stayed at St James’ Park and he should be set for another season of development under Benitez. He was clearly the stand out player for Newcastle, as he put his body on the line to earn an important clean sheet.

The captain won six aerial duels as he stood up to the physical assault deployed by Cardiff. In addition to his aerial dominance, he completed four ball recoveries and six clearances in an excellent defensive performance.

His pass success rate of 82% underlines his improvement on the ball over the last 12 months. Lascelles is quickly becoming one of the best English centre-backs and he will be crucial to Newcastle’s ambitions this season.

Loser – Kenedy

The Chelsea loanee is regarded as one of Newcastle’s most talented players, but there is a reason why he is in their squad rather than playing for his parent club. The Brazilian is capable of magical performances, but he is also capable of some very poor displays. Against Cardiff, his showing fell into the latter.

Kenedy finished the match with a pass success rate of 57%, which was very poor. His decision making throughout was disappointing and he was trying to do too much to make up for his lack of contribution.

During the final minutes, he shanked a free-kick into the wall, before tamely hitting the penalty into an easy area for the goalkeeper to save. Kenedy shouldn’t have been given the opportunity to take the spot-kick, as it was clear that he was having a poor afternoon. There will be better days for the Brazilian, but this was one to forget.