Brenden Aaronson manages 14-year Premier League first in Leeds loss vs Newcastle
Brenden Aaronson got the scoring started in Wednesday night’s thriller at St. James’ Park.
Newcastle United beat Leeds 4-3, with Harvey Barnes netting the winner in the 102nd minute of the game.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored a penalty for Leeds in added time at the end of the first half, before Joelinton brought the scores level again on 54 minutes only for Aaronson to get his second of the match and put Daniel Farke‘s men back on top with 10 minutes to play.
Danny Murphy felt Leeds were right to be angry after the penalty decision in the 90th minute enabled Bruno Guimaraes to level it up again at 3-3, before Barnes stole the three points 12 minutes into stoppage time.
Brenden Aaronson continues superb Leeds form vs Newcastle
It was a bitterly tough pill to swallow for Leeds, as Farke’s side will feel they did more than enough to take something from Tyneside.
Leeds’ seven-game unbeaten run is now over, but there are so many positives to take from what will go down as an all-time Premier League classic against the Magpies, not least another superb performance from Aaronson.
One of the big reasons behind Leeds’ upturn in performances and results, Aaronson has been in excellent form over the last few games, with three goals and one assist from his last four appearances.
And, as documented by LUFCDATA on X, the 25-year-old American forward became the first player to score twice and give away a penalty in a single Premier League game since Grant Holt did so for Norwich City against Swansea City in February 2012.
That’s not the only piece of history of sorts Aaronson made on Wednesday night, either.
As revealed by Opta statistician and Leeds fan Jonny Cooper via X, he’s also the first Whites player to score twice against Newcastle since Duncan McKenzie in 1975, as well as being the first at St. James’ Park since Frank McKenna all the way back in 1956.
The numbers behind Aaronson’s fantastic Leeds form
Calvert-Lewin Anton Stach and Aaronson are Leeds’ triumvirate of power on the pitch at this moment in time, with these three being integral to the Whites’ success in recent weeks.
Aaronson in particular hasn’t had it easy at Leeds though, and it was only in the summer of 2024 that he returned from being out on loan with Union Berlin having scored just two goals and provided two assists in 38 games.
Now, though, he’s evolved into one of Leeds’ most important players, and has been essential to some key points picked up over the last few matches.
- Aaronson has scored four goals and registered three assists in 20 PL games this season
- He’s averaging a 6.9/10 per PL match in terms of his rating
- Aaronson has taken 28 shots this season, with 13 of them being on target
Against Newcastle, Aaronson completed the most dribbles of any player in the game (three), registered a 100 per cent shot accuracy (3/3), made 11 defensive contributions and won seven out of is 11 ground duels.
He scored the goal that earned Leeds a point against Man United too, whilst he also created the most chances of any player in the 1-1 draw at Sunderland on 28 December, in which he got the assist for Calvert-Lewin’s goal.