The snow and ice covering Tyneside never melted all day, with evening temperatures dropping well below freezing, but Newcastle remained too hot for Manchester United to handle.
Although ultimately only Anthony Gordon’s second-half goal separated the pair, the narrow scoreline fails to reflect either the superiority of Eddie Howe’s players or the complacency of the often directionless visitors.
Erik ten Hag’s travel plans were disrupted when the flight scheduled to deliver his team to Tyneside failed to reach Manchester after being stranded at another airport due to freezing weather. Although a different flight was sent on time to Newcastle to take Manchester United home on Saturday night, the visitors could have done so without a long, slow and tedious trans-Pennine bus journey.
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Given that he was in Istanbul last Wednesday, drawing 3-3 with Galatasaray and with seven senior players currently in the treatment room, Ten Hag is at least prepared for what represents a significant setback to his side’s ambitions, as they currently sit in seventh place. can list a number of excuses. .
To be charitable, fatigue was probably responsible for a confused and somewhat humorous cameo featuring André Onana and Diogo Dalot. With communication clearly breaking down between the pair, the left-back rushed to deny his goalkeeper what appeared to be a routine breakthrough. He rushed over and lifted the ball over Onana, who looked panicked and looked set to score an own goal before somehow moving to safety. At one point during this clumsy manoeuvre, the ball appeared to hit the defender’s arm, but Dalot escaped unpunished. Had their goalkeeper’s mistakes in Turkey frustrated Ten Hag’s rearguard?
Perhaps Dalot was annoyed by the relentless and relentless attacking enthusiasm of Howe’s XI. Winners from start to finish, although things are unlikely to be entirely easy for a Newcastle team at the moment, having been without 11 first-team players through injury or suspension and still struggling to recover from Tuesday’s emotionally draining 1-1 draw with Paris Saint-Germain. they came.
Admittedly, there were the odd moment when wonderful counter-attacking passes from the sometimes loosely marked Bruno Fernandes threatened to unravel Howe’s team, but these represented rare exceptions to the general trend.
Horribly goaded by the Gallows End, Onana proved his worth by smartly saving Miguel Almirón after Joelinton’s masterful cut-back. Meanwhile, Alexander Isak saw through Harry Maguire’s shot, Bruno Guimaraes went close from just outside the box, Jamaal Lascelles headed wide from six yards and Kieran Trippier’s badly deflected free-kick hit the post.
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Despite Fernandes’ best efforts (and you wonder what Ten Hag would have done without the talismanic midfielder’s impromptu vision), he was seen as having little value as Manchester United’s attacking force. Effectively sidelined, Marcus Rashford certainly looked increasingly frustrated at being persistently second-guessed by Howe’s hugely impressive left-back Tino Livramento.
This was the first time Ten Hag’s starting 11 had started a match together, and their rather disjointed, not-quite-cohesive display did nothing to camouflage the resulting lack of familiarity.
Even so, the lack of a visible strategic framework around Fernandes has raised questions about whether the former Ajax manager is overly reliant on individuals who change the game through flashes of genius.
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This was more of a tireless defensive night as Newcastle were quite irresistible and Luke Shaw, deployed at centre-half, made some key blocks and tackles.
Unfortunately, Shaw and co suffered a lapse in concentration as Guimarão tipped an unmarked Gordon Trippier’s cross at the far post after Ten Hag had backdoored him.
Manchester United’s manager nodded but could not claim the goal was undeserved or unexpected.
He responded by replacing Rashford and Anthony Martial with Antony and Rasmus Højlund. They quickly saw their side survive a handball penalty appeal after Lewis Miley’s shot was blocked by Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
Howe’s joy at another mature performance from 17-year-old Miley was tempered when her goalkeeper Nick Pope suffered a nasty shoulder injury and was replaced by Martin Dubravka.
Antony almost immediately volleyed beyond the newcomer but the ball was deflected offside by Maguire, an “equalizer” was disallowed and Newcastle moved up to fifth thanks to a third straight win against Manchester United.