Manchester United’s recent woes continued, losing 2-0 against a Newcastle side which rarely broke a sweat.
Alexander Isak continued his scintillating form, giving the visitors an early lead before Joelinton doubled the advantage in the 19th minute. The first half-hour was one of remarkable domination; just two goals was extremely flattering for the team in red.
After Josha Zirkzee was withdrawn for Kobbie Mainoo in the first half, the complexion changed a tad, and the game was suddenly much closer – but United never did enough to turn things around, giving Newcastle their first Premier League win at Old Trafford in 11 years.
As it happened
In 2013, two days after losing against Newcastle United, there was an infamous tweet from Manchester United’s account. It quoted then manager David Moyes, who claimed his team needed to ‘improve in a number of areas, including passing, creating chances and defending,’ which is, when you really think about it, basically everything. 11 years, six permanent managers and another loss against The Magpies later, United are still yet to improve at exactly that: basically everything.
First things first, Newcastle United are very good. They’ve clicked, as it were. Before a ball was kicked at Old Trafford, they’d won their last four games with an aggregate score of 14-1. Isak was the most in-form number nine in the league, having scored in all of his previous five games. Sandro Tonali, Joelinton and Bruno Guimarães had become perhaps the best midfield in the country, and they were rock solid at the back to boot. They may well be the whole package.
Even with all that considered, along with the fact that United are decidedly not that good, it would have been brave to predict the early dominance that unfolded.
It was an opening half-hour the likes of which are seldom seen at any level, let alone the Premier League. That brilliant Newcastle midfield skipped through the opposing partnership of Casemiro and Christian Eriksen as if they weren’t there – and they might as well not have been. They first targeted the wide areas, and it’s where their early goals came from; first Lewis Hall crossing into Isak to power a header home, and then Anthony Gordon to Joelinton for a goal which was copied and pasted.
Embed from Getty ImagesThose strikes came in the fourth and 19th minutes. At the time, it looked like records could have been broken in the goalscoring department, and they perhaps should have been. They may have started by getting the ball out wide, but pretty soon they realised they didn’t have to. United were there to be taken from any angle.
Hall and Tonali were allowed too much space in the middle of the park to test André Onana. Kieran Trippier appeared to shoot directly from a corner not once but twice. Isak fired home a third, but had his fizzed strike chalked off by the linesman’s flag. Only two minutes after that, Tonali would hit the post, given an age to steady himself and poke an effort goalwards inside the box. It was a ruthless, relentless display of attacking intent.
Describing it as men against boys would be an understatement. Every time Newcastle had the ball, one or two touches were required to dance around the statues in red. When they wanted to get in behind, they were faced with no resistance. When United were in possession, on the other hand, they meandered. They improvised. They wandered down blind alleys and looked amazed when they reached dead end after dead end.
But then things changed. Zirkzee was hauled off in the 33rd minute and was greeted with a chorus of boos and jeers. As he made a b-line for the tunnel, Mainoo came on to take his place. His presence addressed the side’s lack of balance, and the ship was steadied.
Embed from Getty ImagesIn fact, they finished the half perhaps even the better side. Newcastle were sloppy, lucky not to concede to either Rasmus Højlund or Casemiro, both of whom passing up gift-wrapped chances.
Having raced into the game at blistering speed, the visitors took their foot off the gas. Come the hour mark, they were made to work hard at the back, with Hall called into action twice to block efforts from Mainoo and Mathijs de Ligt, and they’d even have to rely on the post to keep a Harry Maguire header from making its way over the line. United had improved and finally grown into the game – even if they spent half an hour asleep at the wheel.
But the occasional chance doesn’t win football matches. They weren’t beaten as comprehensively as the early stages foreshadowed, but they lost with an often-visible disparity.
Some potentially uncomfortable realisations now must be addressed. Manchester United are sat just seven points clear of the relegation zone and nine points off seventh. They were never going to become the finished article overnight, but the work to do under Ruben Amorim looks more sizeable than ever. The reality of the situation is they will be looking nervously over their shoulders at Crystal Palace, Everton and Wolves. Not the company they want to keep.
As for Newcastle, they’re well and truly rubbing shoulders with the big boys. Five wins on the spin is no mean feat, and they will likely be licking their lips ahead of a trip to Spurs in the new year. There’s no reason they can’t return to the Champions League come next season. On this game’s evidence, they’re heading in the right direction.
In a tale of two Uniteds, it was Newcastle to prevail. Manchester United, on the other hand, still need to improve their passing, chance creation and defending. So, basically everything.
The lineups
MUN: Onana; Martínez, Maguire, De Ligt; Dalot, Casemiro, Eriksen, Mazraoui; Zirkzee, Diallo; Højlund
NEW: Dubravka; Hall, Burn, Schär, Trippier; Joelinton, Tonali, Guimarães; Gordon, Isak, Murphy