Manchester United hold off Newcastle in high-tempo but goalless draw
Breathless and invigorating and a touch scrappy: contested in bright autumnal sunshine, this was the tale of a goalless draw that Manchester United and Newcastle each felt they might have won.
Erik ten Hag said his team wished to tell the story of the game but the visitors stymied his hopes and instead the fare resembled basketball in an end-to-end nature that largely bypassed measured midfield play.
In the closing moments Casemiro released Marcus Rashford who rounded Nick Pope but on passing to Fred the midfielder’s radar was awry: it was as fair a summation of the entertainment as Rashford somehow missing a point-blank header in added time.
A rueful Ten Hag said: “We broke them but didn’t kill them, by not scoring. We had the chances, Rashford. OK, that happens, football, happy with the performance but disappointed with the result.”
There were also several penalty appeals: Raphaël Varane on Callum Wilson early on; Kieran Trippier on Cristiano Ronaldo; Sean Longstaff on Jadon Sancho. Each manager offered a view.
“The Wilson shout was a strong one,” Newcastle’s Eddie Howe said.
Ten Hag was visibly chagrined throughout. “I shared that with them [the officials]. I don’t have a comment on the ref’s performance,” he said of Craig Pawson. “Everyone has seen what happened today on the pitch.”
United’s start was sharp. Fred, from distance, was the first to pull the trigger though his aim was askew. Lisandro Martínez stabbed the ball away from Miguel Almirón and the Reds roved forward and Ronaldo, in for an under-the-weather Rashford, troubled Fabian Schär. Martínez illustrated further verve when covering off a Wilson thrust, the latter thwarted by David de Gea, making a 500th United appearance.
Newcastle soon counter-punched. Luke Shaw had to repel Trippier in a passage that led to Joelinton’s corner from the left. Wilson, earlier, appealed in vain for the penalty referenced by
Howe when Varane bumped him but Pawson and the VAR were not interested.
The contest’s rhythm was jabjab, thrust-thrust; one moment Fred sprinted on to a ball along the left, the next Trippier’s corner was headed by an unmarked Schär, United’s dead-ball defending loose. Antony, on three league goals, made a familiar cut inside and blasted over. This followed a smart nolook pass from Casemiro that splayed Newcastle.
There was an invigorating muscularity on show: Antony crashed into Sven Botman, Joelinton and Casemiro bounced off each other. The latter tussle was ruled a Newcastle freekick – Trippier smashed this into the wall, turned the ball back in, and Joelinton
hit De Gea’s bar and right post and Diogo Dalot conceded another corner. Again United were second to Trippier’s delivery, Wilson’s header careering across goal.
The half was an incident-fest. Ten Hag upbraided David Coote for some on-field misdemeanour the fourth official might affect, Wilson yanked Martínez’s hand and received a Pawson lecture and, the referee moments later blew for treatment to a downed Joelinton. Next, an errant Casemiro pass presaged Almirón making a mug of Fred, in for the ill Christian Eriksen. Trippier, cleverly, drove the dead-ball shin-high and United somehow remained intact. Shots from Antony and Bruno Fernandes, who also headed at Pope, failed to find the elusive Newcastle net.
Each team missed ruthlessness and Ronaldo, oddly for the arch-predator, was often offside or caught away from the frontline where he had the best chance of adding career club goal No 701. There was more off-target shooting from Wilson to commence the second period and when the Portuguese was in position and beat Pope the strike was offside. At the free-kick given for that Ronaldo, believing Schär had touched it back to Pope, pilfered possession and scored. Pawson booked him, deciding the ball was merely given to the goalkeeper so he could take the set piece.
Both sides were unwilling – or unable – to slow the tempo and move the opponent around in chess-like manner. So when Antony, Dalot, Fernandes, Fred and Shaw did this suddenly Newcastle had a different problem. The move fizzled out yet here was a clue regarding how Ten Hag’s men might prosper.
At the hour Manchester hogged possession with 61.6% but the old issue of being primarily a fast-breaking unit meant an ideas surfeit when most of Newcastle were ahead of them. A lack of composure was a fair characterisation of the post-interval fare. Howe had replaced Jacob Murphy with Ryan Fraser so might Ten Hag shuffle his pack? Yes: off came Ronaldo as Rashford entered.
The home team, though, remained a side in search of a final ball, as personified by Antony failing to pick out Sancho when he raced along the right. When Trippier did find Almirón with a low-driven corner the latter blazed over and, later, Rashford’s wild free-kick was another case study in how not to aim true. A point each was correct.