Eddie Howe highlights Leeds United ‘mind games’ after Newcastle United draw

Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe praised Callum Wilson for keeping his cool from the penalty spot - twice - against Leeds United.

Leeds opened the scoring in the seventh minute when Patrick Bamford’s cross was met by Rodrigo. His header was saved by Nick Pope but Luke Ayling was on hand to tap home the follow-up.

Joelinton’s foul on Junior Firpo in the box presented Bamford with a chance to make it 2-0 from the penalty spot but saw his effort kept out by Pope.

Moments later, at the other end, Wilson dispatched a penalty of his own after Maximilian Wober’s brought down Alexander Isak. The Magpies No.9 repeated his success midway through the second half when VAR spotted a handball by Firpo from Joe Willock’s cross.

Rasmus Kristensen’s deflected shot denied United a big three points in their quest for Champions League qualification - but Howe took nothing away from Wilson’s composure with some of Leeds’ players attempting to get inside the 31-year-old’s head.

Howe said: “He’s a player I love, I’ve said many times. Today he showed incredible composure. [It’s] very difficult to score two penalties. It doesn’t surprise me he wanted to take the second one after scoring the first.

“He had a long wait for that one, a lot of mind games going on, but he focused on what he needed to do. He changed direction and went down the middle - really pleased for him.”

Similar to the 2-1 win at Nottingham Forest in March, where Alexander Isak scored a last-minute penalty, stand-in captain Kieran Trippier grabbed hold of the ball to take the pressure off Wilson before handing the ball over.

“It certainly helped again,” Howe admitted. “You’ve got to leave the attacking player with a clear thought process, and that would have helped Callum gather his thoughts without the intensity of the Leeds players towards him.

“I think then the Leeds players didn’t know who wasn’t going to take it so it was difficult to pinpoint any type of more mind games that way. Very clever again from Tripps.”

The draw leaves Newcastle third in the Premier League table, four points above fifth-place Liverpool, who face Leicester City on Monday.

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