Newcastle United moved up to fourth place in the Premier League and completed their first league double over Manchester United since the 1930/31 season with a convincing 4-1 win at St James’ Park.
It’s been a tough rebuilding period for Manchester United under Ruben Amorim, and goalkeeper André Onana came under more criticism after his mistakes on Thursday against Lyon. Altay Bayındır made his Premier League debut in his place, and although Joelinton had an early goal ruled out for offside, Newcastle soon went ahead in the 24th minute. A slick passing move ended with Sandro Tonali smashing in a brilliant first-time shot after Alexander Isak had set him up with a clever chip.
Newcastle had more chances through Tonali and Isak, but it was Manchester United who surprisingly equalised. Diogo Dalot drove forward and played the ball to Alejandro Garnacho, who finished calmly past Nick Pope.
Newcastle quickly regained the lead early in the second half. Tino Livramento sent a ball across goal, and Jacob Murphy set up Harvey Barnes to make it 2-1. Things got worse for United when Joshua Zirkzee went off injured, forcing a triple substitution that brought on Rasmus Højlund, Patrick Dorgu, and Mason Mount.
Any chance of a comeback was dashed when Barnes muscled past Noussair Mazraoui and fired in a powerful shot for his second goal – only the second Newcastle player after Alan Shearer to score twice against Man United in the Premier League era. The misery continued for United when Bayındır made a poor clearance straight to Joelinton, who headed it on for Bruno Guimarães to score Newcastle’s fourth.
It’s been a fantastic run for Eddie Howe’s side, who have now won five games in a row in all competitions and look set to bring Champions League football back to Newcastle. For Manchester United, though, it’s been a dreadful season. Even if they win all six of their remaining matches, they’ll finish with just 56 points – their lowest ever in a Premier League season.
