It was a harrowing Sunday outing for Manchester United at St. James’ Park as Ruben Amorim’s men lost 4-1 to Newcastle.
The Geordies completed a league double over the Red Devils for the first time since 1931 and were full value for their victory as the Old Trafford outfit’s Premier League woes continued.
United fell behind after 24 minutes through a Sandro Tonali goal, but Alejandro Garnacho restored parity with a well-taken finish just 8 minutes before the interval.
Unfortunately, the second half was pretty much one-way traffic, with the Magpies scoring three times without reply through a Harvey Barnes brace before Bruno Guimaraes profited from a misplaced pass from Altay Bayindir.
Here are five talking points from a day to forget on Tyneside.
Manchester United were completely outplayed on Tyneside
There is no denying that United were second-best against the Magpies in almost every department on Sunday.
The away side was poor in and out of possession. Furthermore, inexplicably sloppy errors were punished by their hosts.
Newcastle are battling for a Champions League spot, whilst United are languishing in 14th place in the league. To be brutally honest, the gulf between the two teams was very much on show here.
Ruben Amorim needs to rally his troops and ensure their heads don’t drop ahead of preparations for their biggest game of the season thus far against Lyon in the Europa League quarter-final on Thursday night.
Zirkzee’s injury is a devastating blow for Amorim
Joshua Zirkzee led the line from the off on Sunday, having received the nod to start ahead of the struggling Rasmus Hojlund.
The Dutch forward delivered a decent performance and linked well with his captain, Bruno Fernandes, in particular.
Unfortunately, disaster struck for the former Bayern Munich man when he pulled up injured with what appeared to be a hamstring injury early in the second period.
It is now highly likely that the 23-year-old is set for a spell on the sidelines and will almost certainly miss Thursday night’s crunch clash with Lyon.
Inevitably, this is another huge blow to United and Amorim, who will now have to rely on Hojlund as his sole out-and-out number nine, with Chido Obi ineligible to play in Europe.
Bayindir fails to take his chance between the sticks
One of the big talking points pre-match was the absence of first-choice goalkeeper Andre Onana after a poor European display in midweek.
Deputy keeper Altay Bayindir was entrusted with the duties but failed to make an impression, conceding four times while being at fault for Newcastle’s final goal after a wayward pass.
The 26-year-old looked shaky, especially when his side was defending set-pieces, and failed to inspire much confidence overall with some below-par kicking.
Amorim hinted that Onana may return to the starting XI to face Lyon on Thursday, and, on this showing, Bayindir didn’t offer a suitable reason to think otherwise.
Garnacho’s goal is the only bright spot for the Reds
It was a difficult afternoon for the record English champions, with Alejandro Garnacho’s first-half strike the only real bright spot from a disappointing day.
The 20-year-old Argentine winger bagged his 10th goal in all competitions for this current campaign, which was his best goal tally since breaking into the first team in 2022.
Garnacho has been heavily criticised for his poor decision-making this season, but he took his chance well.
United were very poor going forward against ‘the Toon’, and it was a rare opportunity on the break that led to the Madrid-born forward slotting past Nick Pope.
Amass makes full Premier League debut
With Amorim eager to rest some of his key players ahead of the Europa League quarter-final second leg, 18-year-old left-back Harry Amass earned a first league start for the club.
The youngster continues to impress at the academy level and was part of United’s pre-season tour to the States last summer.
With Patrick Dorgu given a rest in the North East, Amass came in to deputise and didn’t do his chances any harm, holding his own throughout before making way for his Danish counterpart on 55 minutes.
It will be interesting to see if Amorim feels he is ready to provide competition for that left wing-back spot next season.
How are you feeling after a miserable day for Manchester United in the North East?
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