Newcastle United 2, Manchester United 0
Joe Willock and Callum Wilson scored deserved goals as Newcastle United leapfrogged Manchester United into third place in the Premier League.
Embed from Getty ImagesIt was a fully deserved win for the home side who avenged their Carabao Cup final defeat at the hands of the Reds – Willock could have had a hat trick on the day – as the visitors were indebted to David De Gea for keeping the scores level in a tough first half at St James’ Park.
De Gea pulled off a double save while Sean Longstaff and Joe Willock missed great chances to put the Magpies in front while the United keeper had to pull off another save in the second half and Anthony Martial needed to make a goal line clearance to keep the scores down.
And the Reds had just two weak shots on target in the whole game with Antony and Marcus Rashford barely testing Nick Pope – as tiredness and the lack of the suspended Casemiro now threaten to derail their top four challenge.
Managerless Tottenham could push the Reds down to fifth if they avoid defeat at Everton on Monday.
Luke Shaw was open about the nature of the defeat at St James’ Park, claiming that United didn’t want the win enough.
He said: “It wasn’t good enough, I feel like every time I speak after a bad result I have to be honest
“Newcastle are a good side, they won the game on passion and attitude and had a higher motivation than us.
“It was a massive game for us today and they wanted it more – that can’t be possible.
“It’s unacceptable and not what we set out to be. It’s an extremely tough place to come here and we didn’t create too much.
But he added that the Reds have a chance to turn it around with the visit of Brentford on Wednesday.
He added: “We have three days to pick it back up because Brentford will be a tough game.
“The players had a chat in the changing room with no staff around – we had to speak out in front of each other and own up to it.
“When we go out on that pitch we need to fight for each other – I’m sure we’ll go through it again.
“We can still have a very good season but not with results and performances like this.”
United boss Erik Ten Hag wasn’t happy with his team, admitting that the best team won today.
He said: “Today the best team won, I hate to say it.
“They had more determination and desire. We had our opportunities but we had to go for goal with the same determination that they did.
“We allowed them too many chances. We had to be hungry and give everything in every game.
“I think our attacking game wasn’t good enough – it was about team performance, not about one player.
“We didn’t create so many good chances.
“We were not happy with playing too high in midfield, it was too easy for Newcastle to attack or defend our midfield players.”
But he added that United would react to the setback.
He added: “They got their revenge, we have to leave it behind and learn from this setback.
“During a season you get setbacks, we have had to deal with them too – like after Liverpool – I believe we will bounce back.”
Jaded Manchester United fail to compete with motivated Newcastle United
Martial was fit enough for a place in the bench as Marcus Rashford recovered from a toe injury to start after missing out on England duty.
Antony replaced Jadon Sancho while Raphael Varane replaced Harry Maguire as United boss Erik Ten Hag made just two changes from the side that beat Fulham in the FA Cup before the international break.
But despite team consistency the Reds failed to deal with the dynamic Magpies who carved out by far the better chances in the game.
Sean Longstaff had an early shot blocked by Lisandro Martinez while Wout Weghorst hit the side netting after being released by Antony as the home side battled hard from the start.
David De Gea’s double save kept out a superb headed effort from Alexander Isak from close range plus the followup from Joe Willock while United’s defenders found it hard to deal with Allan Saint-Maximin with Longstaff’s header going wide albeit from an offside position.
But after an opening period of Newcastle dominance in which they really should have scored, the Reds started to get their act together.
Diogo Dalot’s chipped effort was collected by Nick Pope after United finally got upfield.
Bruno Fernandes tried to claim a penalty after he was tackled in the area by a Newcastle defender, and Longstaff saw another effort Clyde wide from 20 yards out.
And Joe Willock squandered another chance from 10 yards out after he got a square pass from Saint-Maximin while Lisandro Martinez blocked an Isak shot.
Chances were few for United after the break, a tame effort by Antony was the Reds’ first shot on target after 57 minutes.
And despite not being sad effective as in the first half the Magpies continued to threaten the United goal with Fabian Schar shooting wide.
Jadon Sancho and Anthony Martial were brought on after 62 minutes to replace Antony and Wout Weghorst but the Reds immediately fell behind.
Joe Willock broke the deadlock with a close range header after a smart move started by Isak to release Bruno Guimares, his cross from the right was sent back into the six yard box by Saint-Maximin – a ball which was perfectly placed for the midfielder to finish with aplomb.
It was fully deserved for the Magpies who immediately made a double change Newcastle responded with a triple change with Anthony Gordon and Joelinton coming on to replace Jacob Murphy and Saint-Maximin.
Anthony Gordon’s cross was cut out by Dalot just as Isak shaped to tap in at the back post, with the Reds desperately keeping our another double chance to score from the resulting corner – Joelinton and Schar’s headers were blocked by De Gea and Martial on the line respectively.
Isak was replaced by Callum Wilson with 10 minutes to go while United responded by sending on Fred, Victor Lindelof, and Facundo Pellistri for Scott McTominay, Lisandro Martinez, and Raphael Varane after Martial’s shot was deflected off Schar for a corner.
United were clearly going for it with their attacking changes, albeit without a lot of height, after a limping Willock was replaced by Elliott Anderson.
But Wilson made it 2-0 with 2 minutes to go after he met a free kick by Kieran Trippier with a header which crept in at at the back post from 5 yards out with Lindelof too slow to react.
Marcus Rashford’s tame shot, easily collected by Pope, underlined the paucity of United’s attacking play on the day.