Newcastle United defender Malick Thiaw issued an apology for his performance after experiencing a difficult night in the dramatic 4-3 win over Leeds United.

The German defender has been sensational since his summer move from AC Milan, producing a string of accomplished displays in the heart of a Newcastle defence that has been ravaged by injuries.

However, his form came tumbling down with a disastrous first-half performance against Leeds and Dominic Calvert-Lewin at St James' Park on Wednesday night.

He was beaten all ends up by Brendan Aaronson in the first five minutes, picked up a yellow card for a late challenge on James Justin minutes later and that set the tone for his evening.

Thiaw was at fault for Leeds' early opener not long after, dwelling on the ball and then falling over to allow Calvert-Lewin to slip the ball to Aaronson who fired home from the edge of the box.

Thiaw's night then went from bad to worse as he was adjudged to have handled a...