Manchester United were a point behind until Edinson Cavani scored a 71st-minute equaliser to give them a draw against the Magpies.
First Half:
Manchester United started the match with their usual 4-2-2-2 formation with David De Gea at the goal, and Harry Maguire and Raphael Varane as centre-backs. Alex Telles and Diogo Dalot were deployed as fullbacks. McFred held up their usual position as CDMs whilst Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes were attacking midfielders. At the striking front was the duo of Cristiano Ronaldo and Mason Greenwood.
The match started with Newcastle displaying great intensity and pressurising the visitors. This pressure allowed Fraser to swoop past Harry Maguire. However, the danger got cleared by Raphael Varane. Varane, however, is later responsible for losing possession in his own half. This enabled Longstaff to pass the ball to Saint-Maximin who shot the ball into the top right corner away from De Gea thus giving Newcastle the lead. The lack of training is clearly visible from United’s side. Rashford is nowhere near his best form which raises a question of whether to start him in the next match. The form chaos is also haunting Bruno Fernandes who also hasn’t been up to the mark in the past 4 games. Ronaldo isn’t getting many chances and his agitation was clearly visible on the pitch. United went into halftime without any goal and a fewer number of chances.
Second Half:
Jadon Sancho and Edinson Cavani replaced Fred and Greenwood at the 46th minute. At the 48th minute,David de Gea then made a crucial save to keep the hope for an equaliser alive for United. United had somewhat more urgency into the second half. There were 2 shots in close succession with each other, with Rashford’s shot tipped over by Dubravka before Cavani mishitting his shot wide following Jadon Sancho’s pull-back.
The pressure from United bore fruit when at the 71st minute, following Diogo Dalot’s cross, Edinson Cavani scores, after missing to hit the net in the first attempt. Cavani almost had his second goal minutes later, but his dinked attempt from close range was cleared before it crossed the line.
As the match drew to a close, the host piled more pressure on. With three minutes left to play, Jacob Murphy took a shot but his effort rebounded off the post. De Gea then yet again produced a fingertip save from Almiron. With this the match drew to a close with both teams getting a single point each.
Conclusion:
Yet another unimpressive performance by Manchester United with many players looking out of form. There is alot of work to be done and the manager should continue to work on those. Manchester United are now set to face Burnley on Thursday night at Old Trafford.
