Daily Mirror

REDS RUN OUTOF TOON

Pogba & Co outfought AND outplayed by Newcastle killing off Mourinho’s title bid

- BY ANDY DUNN Chief Sports Writer

RETREATING deeper into his coat, Paul Pogba looked like he would rather have been anywhere else than in a dugout at St James’ Park.

Unceremoni­ously hooked after Matt Ritchie’s decisive goal, £89million worth of talent was not required in the pursuit of some sort of comeback. Such had been his ineffectiv­eness, he was coming off anyway, Jose Mourinho having already curled his finger in Michael Carrick’s direction before his men failed to deal with a standard set-piece and allowed Ritchie to score what was only Newcastle’s fifth goal in their last nine league matches at home (below). Carrick, 37 years of age this summer, without any distance at all on his Premier League clock this season, was deemed a better propositio­n than Pogba. Somehow, that summed up the issues Mourinho still has to get to grips with. His praise of Newcastle was, typically, open to interpreta­tion. Fulsome, says one. Patronisin­g, says another.

Talking about them fighting like animals, going beyond the normal bounds of commitment, starting out merely to battle furiously for a point, made the home team’s triumph seem like one based purely on some sort of demonic effort. It was not, it was far from it. In Jonjo Shelvey, Newcastle had the most influentia­l performer, goalscorer Ritchie always offered a classy outlet and a defensive effort led splendidly by Florian Lejeune was, indeed, committed but also composed.

Toon were certainly not “lucky”, as Mourinho claimed, but talk of their fortune and incredible applicatio­n deflected from the deficienci­es of his own team.

That is why talk of Manchester City formalisin­g title matters in the derby at the Etihad in early April is probably spurious. There is every chance it will be done and dusted by then.

The coronation date is of zero concern to Mourinho, anyhow.

Top of his agenda will be the realisatio­n that the Reds, particular­ly in this fairly wretched form, may well still occupy second spot but face a tough fight to make sure they remain in the top four.

Their next two home league matches, against Chelsea and Liverpool, have taken on an even more significan­t hue. Their last two away games in the league have been significan­tly off-colour.

They edged the statistica­l comparison­s here but the only chance that truly sat up and begged to be accepted was when Anthony Martial dashed on to Nemanja Matic’s first-half pass and shot too close to the studs of keeper Martin Dubravka, who was making a very acceptable debut.

Late on, there was a fair bit of fury in the vicinity of the Newcastle goal but it was pressure without much of a plan, unless you can count sticking Chris Smalling up front a plan. Better there than at centre-half, maybe. As individual performanc­es go, this was the definition of forgettabl­e. Craig Pawson gave Smalling a reprieve by presumably deciding it was another Dwight Gayle tumble rather than a mistimed penaltyare­a challenge but later booked him for diving in his own half. Think about that, a Manchester United centre-half booked for diving in his own half.

Worse was to come when Lejeune was allowed to head on Shelvey’s routine freekick, Gayle laid it back and Ritchie’s left boot prompted joyous uproar.

On came Juan Mata and Carrick and as Newcastle dropped deep, there were always going to be anxious moments for Rafa Benitez. But even with Alexis Sanchez trying a few tricks, there was a lack of creativity and fluency about the visitors.

Mourinho was right to commend Newcastle’s tenacity but that should not camouflage the faults that lie with him.

As he headed towards the team bus, Pogba, who had ended his warm-up prematurel­y and never looked to be moving sweetly, seemed to be limping.

Maybe he has a problem or maybe he wanted to give a reason for a disappoint­ing day that was not simply his own inadequacy. A bit like Jose.

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 ??  ?? FED-UP Sanchez (far left) and Pogba among the players not happy while Jose is frustrated
FED-UP Sanchez (far left) and Pogba among the players not happy while Jose is frustrated
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