Man Utd 3-2 Newcastle: Five things learned as quarter-back Pogba conducts Old Trafford comeback

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Manchester United came from behind to beat Newcastle United 3-2 on Saturday to relieve some of the pressure on manager Jose Mourinho.

Newcastle took the lead after just seven minutes as Kenedy capitalised on a defensive lapse and Yoshinori Muto doubled their advantage shortly after with a well-taken finish.

Juan Mata pulled one back for Man United with 20 minutes to go, beating Martin Dubravka with a very good free-kick before Anthony Martial drew United level shortly after, breaking down a tough Newcastle defence.

And Alexis Sanchez completed the comeback for United in the 90th minute to give United their first win since September 19.

Here are five things we learned from the dramatic game at Old Trafford.

1. There’s life in the old dog yet

The reports of Mourinho’s death are greatly exaggerated. At half-time everyone had resigned the club to sacking their manager and being closer to the relegation zone than the top of the table.

Conceding two goals from moves following throw-ins, something completely anti-Mourinho, the Portuguese held no bars on his defence.

After just 19 minutes, Eric Bailly was taken off and replaced by Juan Mata with central midfielder Scott McTominay dropped back into defence as part of a back four.

That lasted until half-time when McTominay was subbed off for Marouane Fellaini with Nemanja Matic dropping back and, at times, it even looked as though Paul Pogba was playing as part of a back three.

This would have been something Mourinho has been thinking about for some time, with the Portuguese commenting as far back as October 2016 on Pogba’s ability to play in defence.

“He’s a top player and I think he could be a phenomenal central defender,” Mourinho said then.

“With the quality of his pass, with his aerial game, with his agility in such a big body, for his defensive side of the game, coming from the back with the ball, he would be a phenomenal central defender, too.”

The introduction of Fellaini and Pogba dropping deeper to a quarter-back role opened up the game, but it only really changed once Alexis Sanchez came on looking to prove a point.

Though their way into the game was certainly helped by Newcastle not being as adventurous as they were in the first half, United’s players still had the work to do.

It wasn’t until all three changes had been made that things started to click for United with Mata curling in a free-kick and Anthony Martial drawing them level.

And United kept pushing, knowing only a win would do, and Sanchez who hadn’t scored a goal for United since the semi-final of the FA Cup, grabbed the winner after coming on from the bench – with his introduction playing a huge part in the win.

2. Ashley Young’s far too old

Brought in to replace Antonio Valencia, who was left out of the United squad all together following that anti-Mourinho Instagram like, Young had a day to forget on Saturday.

Inside 10 minutes United were 2-0 down to Newcastle and for both of the early goals, fingers could be pointed at young.

For Kenedy’s opener, the Englishman let his man get the run on him far too easily and then allowed him to cut back inside onto his favoured foot to curl low past David de Gea in the United goal.

And then for the second, Young started off in the right, marking Muto tightly as Shelvey’s ball came in. But, inexplicably, he let the striker turn inside the box without pressure to fire almost through De Gea.

It could have been so much worse to Young too in the first half, but he wasn’t penalised for a clear handball inside the area which, if the referee had seen it, it would have undoubtedly been a penalty – instead a goal kick was given.

For whatever reason, Young was picked ahead of Diogo Dalot to start at right-back. But after Saturday’s performance, Mourinho – or the next United manager – may have to rethink the standings.

3. Yoshinori Muto makes his moment count

While the headlines from the match will understandably be about Man United’s second-half comeback, it was another story before half-time.

Newcastle, winless in their opening seven Premier League games, could have easily set up to defend and hope for the best but Rafael Benitez clearly smelt blood going up against his old adversary. And the Magpies executed his gameplan perfectly in the first half.

From the start, Newcastle got at a frail United defence led by Yoshinori Muto who was making the most of his first Premier League start of the season after promising substitute appearances.

Before the game, Newcastle fans were excited to finally see the Japanese forward given a chance from the off, and he didn’t waste too much time in showing why.

Pushing hard against the United backline, Muto worked well with Ayoze Perez and Kenedy both on and off the ball.

It was his off-the-ball run which opened up some space for Kenedy’s first, assisted by Perez, before Muto himself made a shooting opportunity despite being tightly marked to doubled Newcastle’s lead.

It may not be a coincidence that United took true control of the match after Muto was taken off with less than 15 minutes to go.

4. There’s something wrong with Matic

When Nemanja Matic doesn’t look too interested in playing for your team, you know something’s wrong.

The Serbian had been there before with Mourinho, as part of the Chelsea side in 2015/16 which spectacularly put on the worst title defence in Premier League history, being 16th in the table at the time of the manager’s sacking.

And, into Mourinho’s third season at United, Matic is once again part of a side which looks to be playing without trust in their manager and his tactics.

While others will take more blame for Newcastle’s opening goal, it could have been stopped it Matic had tried just a little bit harder in midfield.

Newcastle had a throw-in in a fairly safe position for United to defend, not too far inside their own half. But Matic allowed DeAndre Yedlin’s throw to get past him, lazily stick a leg out to no avail, into the path of Ayoze Perez to played in Kenedy to give Newcastle the lead.

If that wasn’t enough in the same move, Matic proceeded to job back as Kenedy broke forward, being nowhere near his own box to help his teammates as the Brazilian scored.

In the second half, Matic had a golden opportunity to pull one back for United following a set-piece but the Serbian sent his shot high over the bar with practically an open goal in front of him.

5. Rafa can only have himself to blame

For 45 minutes of the match, Newcastle United were brilliant and fully deserving of their lead going into half-time.

But, with a first win of the season just one half away, Benitez decided to try and sit back against Man Utd and Newcastle were made to pay.

Allowed a team with a point to prove, such as Manchester United, to push you in their own stadium will spell disaster more often than not and after looking close to cementing his rival’s departure from Old Trafford, Benitez gave the Portuguese an added boost.

Though Kenedy’s substitution just before Man United’s first goal was forced, due to injury, Benitez got his next change wrong, taking off the impressive Muto and bringing on Christian Atsu – almost showing Mourinho his hand.

Things aren’t going well behind the scenes at Newcastle and the fans back Rafael Benitez, singing anti-Mike Ashley songs from start to finish even when their side had given away three valuable points.

But this one was on Benitez. And now Newcastle are 19th in the Premier League, with just two points from their opening eight games.

The post Man Utd 3-2 Newcastle: Five things learned as quarter-back Pogba conducts Old Trafford comeback appeared first on Squawka News.



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