itstargetnews
Newcastle’s opening two goals were enough to condemn Manchester United to a fourth-straight defeat under Ruben Amorim.
Alexander Isak and Joelinton breached the Red Devils’ backline in the early stages A rare victory for the Magpies at Old Trafford. United staged a second-half comeback, but Newcastle were able to hold on to their advantage without much fuss.
Chelsea’s defeat at Ipswich means Newcastle are now just three points behind the Blues in fourth, while United are in 14th ahead of a desperate trip to Anfield next Sunday.
How the game unfolded
Newcastle enter Monday night’s contest in top-scoring form, and Amorim’s team selection will only boost the Magpies. The visitors had their way with United from the get-go, with the midfield triumvirate of Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali and Joelinton beating the Red Devils’ veteran duo of Casemiro and Christian Eriksen in every way imaginable.
It took less than four minutes for the in-form visitors to open the scoring as Alexander Isak continued his impressive scoring run by heading home Louis Hall’s poor ball. The Swede was unopposed – with United captain Lisandro Martinez on the night – opting against challenging the Newcastle striker.
Argentina were at least able to compete with Joelinton when he tried to convert Anthony Gordon’s cross, but Martinez was in no position to win the duel and although the ball looked to be slipping out of Joelinton’s hands, VAR ruled against intervention and Newcastle were in for good on 19 minutes. Two goals.
It was one-way traffic and it should have been worse for Amorim’s side before the manager decided to introduce Kobi Mainu for Joshua Zirkzy after the 30-minute mark. The Dutchman’s exit was greeted by widespread jubilation around Old Trafford which seemed harsh on the arrival of the summer – even if he had started the game poorly.
The change at least helped United stem the flow and was their first positive moment in attack soon after Maino’s introduction. However, Ramsus Højlund got behind Martinez’s pass and sent his effort just wide.
On the stroke of half-time Casemiro then spurned a gilt-edged chance after a poor tackle on Fabian Schur. The Brazilian picked up a first-time finish from Maino’s pass, but his effort went harmlessly wide despite having time to convert all over the world.
Amorim’s side continued to improve after the interval, with Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt the Red Devils’ next pairing to come close to halving their deficit before the hour mark.
Substitute Lenny Yoro was the next United centre-half to have a look at goal, but the young Frenchman fired just wide from Eriksen’s outswinging corner. It was the last notable moment in both boxes, with Newcastle failing but needing to test Andre Onana in the second half. Some attention was focused on Marcus Rashford, who returned to Amorim’s squad, but the Englishman did not feature on Monday night as United slumped to a fourth-straight defeat.
This was always going to be a difficult task for United as they continued to look at the weaknesses under new management, but Amorim’s midfield selection set the Red Devils up for failure.
The Portuguese coach was without suspended duo Bruno Fernandes and Manuel Ugarte which meant he had limited options, but his decision to start veteran duo Casemiro and Christian Eriksen at pivot was a major contributor to their terrible start on Monday night.
There were numerous problems, but Newcastle’s overload in the middle of the park stood out the most. The trio of Guimaraes, Tonali and Joelinton have made waves in recent weeks, and they ran the show here in the opening 30 minutes. United’s aging was constantly stretched and endlessly overwhelmed. The pair must have watched with envy as Newcastle’s technicians combined seamlessly around them before feeding the likes of Issac and Gordon to torment a fragile backline.
“Remember when we could do that, old friend?”
Newcastle’s dominance forced Amorim into an obvious change on 30 minutes, and the withdrawal of Joshua Zirkzy led to widespread jubilation and an allegedly tearful (and humiliated) Dutchman walking down the tunnel.
Coby Maino wasn’t entirely responsible for United’s improvement once he was on the field, but United were at least able to compete for the remaining hours.
It seems that the litany of teams at the Theater of Dreams in recent years have ended their barren run. This was once an amphitheater feared by the entire division, but over the past decade parties have enjoyed trips to Old Trafford.
Newcastle, however, have continued to struggle in Manchester’s half since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson. Before Monday’s game, the Magpies had won just one of their previous 39 trips to United’s home ground. Their last win came in December 2013 when Yohann Cabaye scored the only goal of the game to down David Moyes’ Red Devils.
There was a feeling that Howe’s side, given how they had performed over the past month, were well set to win at Old Trafford for the third time in the league since 1972. Such projections were justified early on and it looked like they’d blitz past their hosts, but they were forced to dig in at times during the second half to ensure they claimed a rare victory.
Chelsea are suddenly just three points better than Hove’s outfit in fourth place.
There has been plenty of talk surrounding Issac’s Newcastle future in recent months, with reports suggesting the Magpies may need a return to the Champions League in 2025 to keep their superstar forward.
Issac is certainly doing everything in his power to return the Magpies to Europe’s premier club competition after they exited at the group stage on their previous venture two seasons ago.
It took less than four minutes for the Swede to score in his sixth successive Premier League outing as he headed home Hall’s cross with gusto. He was disallowed for offside a second into the first half, but the finish was nonetheless brilliant and representative of his current form.
Issac proved once again that he is more than just a goalscorer at the Theater of Dreams. The United backline could do little to drift its steps into withdrawn forward positions and wide areas, and were even more helpless when Issac got possession. He was able to consistently outrun the hopeful challengers which opened up the hosts’ defensive structure.
There is no better striker in the Premier League going into 2025.
