Newcastle 2 – 0 Man Utd

Joe Willock put two glaring misses behind him to send a dominant Newcastle on their way to a deserved 2-0 win over a toothless Manchester United and third place in the table.

Newcastle midfielder Willock saw one huge opportunity saved by David de Gea on the floor before blazing another effort over before half-time, but he responded with the opener on 65 minutes by heading in from close range after a slick move from the hosts.

Substitute Callum Wilson then put the icing on the cake, heading in a second from a set-piece with three minutes to go to bring Champions League football next season a little closer to St James’ Park.

In truth, the Magpies should have put more past Erik ten Hag’s side, who started Marcus Rashford after he missed international duty with England but only managed one shot on target in a limp display.

The result also means Manchester United could slide down to fifth in the Premier League table should Tottenham avoid defeat at Everton on Monday Night Football, though Spurs would have played two games more than their top-four rivals.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Ten Hag branded the visitors’ performance as “not good enough” as they “created nothing”.

“I hate to say it, they were better today,” he said. “Especially in determination, passion and desire. They wanted to win more this week. So they won.

“We had our opportunities but then you have to go for goal with the determination they did. It wasn’t good enough. We allowed them too many chances. In the past we were better. You have to be hungry, give everything, every game.

“We didn’t break them. That is the conclusion, we didn’t create good chances. Best chance is for Anthony Marital on the equaliser. Not good enough.”

Willock went from zero…

… to hero!

How the Magpies flew into third

How Newcastle failed to find the net in the first half was anyone’s guess. Howe’s side dominated proceedings as Manchester United failed to record a shot on target before half-time for the first time this season.

Sean Longstaff had the first chance of the afternoon as he took down Alexander Isak’s knockdown in the box well but miskicked his effort from 12 yards out.

But the best chance of the half came on 16 minutes, when Isak headed Jacob Murphy’s cross goalwards from six yards out. De Gea parried the effort only as far as the onrushing Willock, whose rebounded effort bounced off the Man United goalkeeper and away.

Newcastle kept the pressure on for most of the first half, seeing Murphy blaze over, while Isak was denied by a strong block by the recovering Raphael Varane from inside the box.

Longstaff tried his luck from 20 yards out, his fierce strike whistling just over De Gea’s top corner, and Willock then wasted a second gilt-edged chance of the game.

Allan Saint-Maximin, who caused the right hand side of the visiting defence all sorts of problems all afternoon, went on a mazy run before pulling the ball back to the Newcastle midfielder, who was leaning back as he fired over from a similar position to his first chance.

Meanwhile, Manchester United’s only notable efforts from the first half came from Wout Weghorst hitting the side netting early on and Antony acrobatically volleyed over from a corner when a simpler finish was on.

The visitors finally registered a shot on target as Antony curled an effort straight at Nick Pope – but it wasn’t long until Newcastle found their deserved opener.

A superb move saw Isak feed Bruno Guimaraes on the right wing, the Brazilian then clipping a ball to Saint-Maximin at the back post.

The Frenchman nodded back for Willock to finally break De Gea’s resistance, sending St James’ Park into raptures.

The Magpies came close to a second goal when substitute Joelinton forced De Gea to tip onto the bar, with Fabien Schar heading the rebound onto the post.

Then came some sort of life from the visitors. Fernandes’ long ball forwards saw Anthony Martial teed up in the box, but the substitute’s effort was deflected just wide with Pope wrong-footed.

Another substitute, Victor Lindelof, headed over the resulting corner as United’s replacements offered more threat than their starters had all game

But Newcastle ended up getting that result-sealing second, as Wilson nodded in Trippier’s delivery late on.

Newcastle players get the revenge they wanted

Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, several Newcastle players spoke about the relief of getting revenge for losing the Carabao Cup final to Manchester United 35 days earlier.

“It’s really special,” said defender Dan Burn about the win. “For a long time, we’ve always disliked Manchester United. We’ve owed them one this season, so it was good to get the win today.

“As a Newcastle fan we were desperate to get the win. Over the seasons this [fixture] has always been one where we want to beat Manchester United.”

“I feel like we owed them one after the cup final,” added goalscorer Willock. “We didn’t take that lightly so we came out and stuck to our game plan. It’s a big three points.

“Losing a cup final hurts a lot you know? So we took that anger into this game. From the start, we dominated play. I could have even scored more and was disappointed not to come in with a goal or two.”

Even opposition manager Ten Hag could sense Newcastle’s desire to get revenge.

“I saw with them a desire, they wanted revenge and they got it,” said the Manchester United manager. “We have to leave it behind, it’s a setback and [we need to] learn from this lesson about passion and desire.”

Player of the match: Bruno Guimaraes

It was billed as the battle of the Brunos – and the Newcastle one came out on top.

Both Guimaraes and Fernandes ended up with exactly the same amount of touches in the game – but it was what the players did with and without the ball that mattered.

The Newcastle midfielder put in the perfect all-round display that earned him man-of-the-match. He won four times as many balls in the middle of the park than Fernandes and completed more final third passes and take-ons than anyone on the pitch.

And the Brazilian’s involvement in Joe Willock’s first goal for Newcastle in their 2-0 win over Manchester United cannot be overstated.

Taking linking up well with Alexander Isak before putting in a delightful second assist, it summed up how Guimaraes is at the centre of everything good that Newcastle do.

It was a moment on Sunday that Fernandes could only watch on and dream of. Manchester United lacked passion and determination at St James Park – that’s according to their own manager and left-back. A reminder that Fernandes was the one wearing the armband…

The stats that show the dominance

• Newcastle had 22 shots on the Manchester United goal compared to just six in the opposite direction.

• Manchester United failed to register a shot on target in the first half for the first time this season.

• Newcastle produced an expected goals tally of 3.57, the highest xG tally against Erik ten Hag’s side this season, while Manchester United managed just 0.43.

• Manchester United produced just 93 sprints, compared to Newcastle’s 136.

• Manchester United have failed to score in three consecutive Premier League games for a seventh time, and for the first time since February 2020.

What’s next?

Newcastle now embark on a run of three challenging away days, starting at West Ham on Wednesday night, kick-off 8pm.

The Magpies then go to Brentford and Aston Villa on the following two Saturdays, before hosting Tottenham on April 23, live on Sky Sports.

Manchester United, on the other hand, have their next three matches at home.

Brentford are the visitors to Old Trafford on Wednesday night, kick-off 8pm, while Everton and Sevilla – the latter arriving for the Europa League quarter-final – will also visit the Theatre of Dreams in the next 10 days.