Man Utd crushed by Newcastle at St. James' Park

Visiting Newcastle, coach Ten Hag used a similar lineup to the one that won 3-0 against Everton last week, except Shaw was pushed into the center-back position instead of Lindelof. The Dutch strategist surprised by leaving both Lindelof and Varane, the "Red Devils" top center-backs, on the bench.

Ten Hag's team was quickly overwhelmed by the home team. With a strong playing style, Newcastle players rushed to attack, forcing Man Utd to defend with difficulty. In the 9th minute, Dalot cleared the ball into his own hand in a misunderstanding with Onana, fortunately the referee did not call a foul on the away team.

Dalot cleared the ball with his hand but the referee did not blow the whistle (Photo: Getty).

In the 17th minute, Newcastle players successfully penetrated the visitors' defense thanks to accurate passes. Almiron shot low in the center of the penalty area, aiming the ball towards the left corner, goalkeeper Onana dived to push the ball away.

Man Utd struggled to defend, and the visitors' attacks were not impressive. Newcastle's best chance in the first half came in the 39th minute, Trippier took a free kick from about 21m away, Onana stood still and watched but the ball bounced off the crossbar.

Newcastle had 14 shots in the first half but failed to score. The home side continued to push forward in the second half and got the result in the 55th minute. Man Utd players failed to develop the ball, Newcastle won the ball and Trippier crossed accurately for Gordon to tap in from close range to score.

Gordon scored against Man Utd (Photo: Getty).

Newcastle players celebrate after scoring the opening goal (Photo: Getty).

Despite being behind, Man Utd could not rise up. In a losing game, coach Ten Hag had to change his players, with Antony and Hojlund coming on to replace Rashford and Martial in the 61st minute. These changes helped Man Utd play better than they did in the first half.

However, Man Utd only organized better attacks in terms of quantity of shots, but quality was nil. The visitors had 6 shots in the second half - 3 times more than the first half - but not a single ball on target.

The most notable move of the away team happened in the 89th minute, Antony shot from the right side of the goal, the ball hit Maguire and went into the net. The referee called Maguire offside, the former Man Utd captain seemed to know his mistake and did not celebrate.

Unable to score, Man Utd sadly lost 0-1 to Newcastle and was surpassed by their opponent in the rankings. Newcastle is currently in 5th place with 26 points, Man Utd still has only 24 points and is in 7th place.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/man-utd-bi-newcastle-de-bep-o-st-james-park-20231203054825153.htm