Newcastle overtakes MU to take the third spot
Manchester United suffered a crushing 0-2 defeat at the hands of Newcastle United, not only losing their 3rd position in the English Premier League but also setting a sad milestone after 3 years. Therefore, Coach Erik Ten Hag and defender Luke Shaw bluntly criticized the “Red Devils”.
In stark contrast to their 2-0 victory over Newcastle United in the League Cup final at Wembley in late February, Manchester United suffered a 0-2 defeat as guests at St. James’ Park in the 29th round of the English Premier League on the evening of April 2.
In the following minutes, Newcastle’s long-range efforts repeatedly threatened Manchester United’s goal. In the 40th minute, Saint-Maximin dribbled past the entire Manchester United defense before crossing the ball for Willock, but unfortunately, the latter hit the ball straight into the stands.
In the second half, Ten Hag’s team even struggled to get the ball and eventually conceded a goal. In the 65th minute, Newcastle players smoothly coordinated to completely shake up the visiting team’s defense.
Originating from Isak’s clever play before the penalty area, he played a through ball to Bruno Guimaraes who ran down the right flank. The Brazilian midfielder then delivered an uncomfortable cross toward Allan Saint-Maximin’s position at the far post. The number 10 rose high to provide an assist with his head for Willock to open the scoring.
In the 76th minute, Newcastle almost doubled their lead to 2-0. From Trippier’s corner kick, substitute midfielder Joelinton and center-back Fabian Schar both had consecutive headers that hit the crossbar and post.
In the final 10 minutes, Coach Erik Ten Hag made an all-out effort by substituting both center-backs, Varane and Lisandro Martinez, for Lindelof and Pellistri. However, this was a double-edged sword for the Red Devils.
In the 88th minute, it was again a high ball from Trippier’s corner. Substitute striker Callum Wilson intelligently positioned himself to outjump Lindelof and headed in to double Newcastle’s lead.
There was not enough time left for the Red Devils to perform a miracle. Losing 0-2 to Newcastle, Manchester United lost their 3rd position to their opponents, both having 50 points after 27 matches but losing heavily on goal difference (+4 compared to +22).
According to Opta Joe, with their recent 0-7 loss to Liverpool, 0-0 draw against Southampton, and 0-2 loss to Newcastle, Manchester United has failed to score in three consecutive Premier League matches for the seventh time in history. This is also the first time in over three years, since February 2020, that the “Red Devils” have hit this unfortunate milestone.
Furthermore, Manchester United just suffered their fourth defeat in eight Premier League matches this season without Casemiro. Meanwhile, the team coached by Erik Ten Hag has only lost three out of 19 matches played with the new Brazilian midfielder.
According to Squawka, only four teams have conceded more away goals in the Premier League this season than Manchester United’s 29 goals: Bournemouth, Leicester City, Nottingham Forest, and Leeds United.
Notably, it has been 7 years, 7 months, and 3 days since Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester United all lost in the same Premier League matchday, dating back to August 29th, 2015.
After the defeat to Newcastle, MU coach Erik Ten Hag shared on Sky Sports: “I hate to say this, but today Newcastle played better, especially in terms of determination, passion, and desire to win. They wanted to win more than we did, so they won.
“We had our chances, but we didn’t take advantage of them. You have to score with the determination that Newcastle showed. We didn’t play well enough. We allowed them too many chances. You have to have the desire to win and give everything in every game. Our attacking play wasn’t good enough. I don’t want to focus on any individual. It was a poor performance from the whole team.”
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