On April 2, Manchester United suffered a 0-2 defeat against Newcastle in the 29th round of the English Premier League. Despite playing away from home, Newcastle confidently organized high pressing phases that made it difficult for Manchester United's midfield and defense to deploy the ball. The midfield trio of Marcel Sabitzer, Scott McTominay, and Bruno Fernandes were constantly losing in duels, which made it difficult for them to control the game.
In the first half, Newcastle completely dominated the game, with a ball possession rate of 52% and 11 shots. In contrast, Manchester United played poorly and only had two shots off the column. If it wasn't for the excellence of goalkeeper David De Gea, the visitors' net would have shaken, after two close shots from Isak and Joe Willock in the 16th minute.
With Wan-Bissaka absent, Allan Saint-Maximin had no trouble facing Diogo Dalot. The French winger constantly stirred in the left corridor and helped Newcastle concretize their attack effort with the opening goal in the 65th minute. Saint-Maximin's wall header opened the space for Willock to score from a distance of less than 5 m.
Even after conceding the first goal, Manchester United still could not get on the ball under pressure from the home team's middle line. Rashford and Weghorst were not able to create many chances, and Antony only had a few harmless shots from long distance.
Martial was brought on as a substitute with the task of strengthening the attack, but he did not have the opportunity to shine when the away team's midfield kept losing the ball. The most significant mark of striker number 9 was a save right on the goal line, after Fabian Schar's close-range header in the 76th minute.
In the last 10 minutes, coach Ten Hag played all his hands, only arranging one central defender on the field, Victor Lindelof. Varane and Lisandro Martinez had to leave the field to make way for Fred and Pellistri. However, Manchester United could not pressurize, and then paid the price with the second goal in the 88th minute. From the corner on the right, Callum Wilson headed high, causing De Gea to give up. It was a disappointing night for Manchester United, and they will need to regroup and come back stronger in their next game.
