Manchester United 0, Newcastle United 0
Joelinton hit the woodwork twice with a brace of headers as Fred and Marcus Rashford failed to score late winners for Manchester United.
With Christian Eriksen in the side the Reds resorted to increasingly desperate penalty claims in a physical encounter at Old Trafford which was then underlined by glaring late misses by Fred and Marcus Rashford and a disallowed goal by Cristiano Ronaldo to leave United in fifth with Newcastle just behind them.
Erik ten Hag made three changes from the side that laboured past Omonia Nicosia on Thursday.
Raphael Varane, Luke Shaw, Jadon Sancho were brought into the side while Victor Lindelof, Tyrell Malacia, and the unwell Marcus Rashford stepped down to the bench.
In-form Christian Eriksen missed his first Premier League game for United due to illness while Thursday’s match winner Scott McTominay was suspended after racking up 5 bookings in 9 Premier League games this term.
Goalkeeper David De Gea celebrated 500 appearances for the Reds – becoming the first non British or Irish player to reach that landmark for United.
And Cristiano Ronaldo was also honoured for reaching 700 career goals ahead of the game.
On the bench was Tom Heaton who once again edged out ex-Newcastle United goalkeeper Martin Dubravka for the place in the match day squad.
Early chances for Ronaldo and Fred went begging as United started on the front foot.
Callum Wilson tried to buy a penalty without success and Dan Burn forced De Gea into a save after he tried to shoot from an acute angle after the Magpies survived the early onslaught to produce a chance of their own.
Sancho had set up a couple of earlier chances and had a curling shot of his own swing out wide while Jacob Murphy crafted a chance of his own carrying the ball into the area only for a tame shot to present no challenge to De Gea.
Joelinton won a free kick 25 yards out when Fred brought him down – prime territory for Kieran Trippier.
Trippier’s free kick was blocked by the wall, he sent it back in to the fray only for Joelinton to contrive to hit the crossbar and then the post on successive rebounds with De Gea beaten.
Ronaldo then had a chance to score but the offside flag was long up to thwart him and Antony had a shot saved by Nick Pope after the Trippier wasted another free kick chance.
Bruno Fernandes had two chances blocked and a header over the bar while Antony’s cross was just too high for Ronaldo as the chances kept coming for United.
Callum Wilson screwed a shot wide of the back post after the restart and Ronaldo had the ball in the back of the net but a late offside flag went up long after the Portuguese had finished the chance off.
He was further infuriated after he nicked the ball off Pope and scored, claiming that Pope had already touched the ball, and also missed out under pressure from Trippier as he went for a close range shot.
The atmosphere was further intensified by a dive by Sancho after Sean Longstaff appeared to impede him in the penalty area – a VAR check had concluded that no further action needed to be taken.
Fred and Marcus Rashford pass up chances to beat Newcastle United
Ryan Fraser replaced Jacob Murphy as Newcastle made the first change of the game after 59 minutes with the Reds looking short of ideas – Casemiro’s fall in the box was waved away.
Ronaldo was replaced by Rashford for the last 18 minutes as the game had clearly descended into a physical war of attrition with Newcastle players going down injured.
Newcastle made three further changes with 12 minutes to go – Joe Willock, Matt Targett, and Chris Wood replaced Bruno Guimaraes, Dan Burn, and Callum Wilson.
Luke Shaw won a free kick 27 yards out and Rashford hit his free kick over the bar after Almiron had wasted a corner routine for Newcastle.
Marcus Rashford finally broke the offside trap, rounded Pope on the right edge of the box and squared it for Fred who contrived to slice the ball beyond the open goal in what would have had a VAR check applied had the ball gone in.
Fabian Schar was placed by Jamaal Lascelles as Newcastle looked to survive five minutes of added time and they managed to avoid a second injury time winner in a row for the Reds when Marcus Rashford headed wide after meeting Casemiro’s cross into the box.
MATCH STATS – Manchester United 0, Newcastle United 0
Man Utd: De Gea, Dalot, Varane, Martinez, Shaw, Casemiro, Fred, Antony, Fernandes, Sancho, Ronaldo (Rashford 72)
Man Utd Subs not used: Heaton, Lindelof, Malacia, Pellistri, Elanga, Garnacho, Iqbal, Mainoo
Booked: Ronaldo 49, Fernandes 65 (foul on Bruno Guimaraes), Casemiro 69 (foul on Ryan Fraser)
Newcastle Utd: Pope, Trippier, Schar (Lascelles 90), Botman, Burn (Targett 78), S Longstaff, Guimaraes (Willock 78), Joelinton, Almiron, Murphy (Fraser 59), Wilson (Wood 78)
Newcastle Utd Subs not used: Karius, Shelvey, Lewis, Anderson
Booked: Burn 43 (foul on Cristiano Ronaldo)
Referee: Craig Pawson
Attendance: 72,726