A lot of water has flowed under Tyne Bridge since the days when Kevin Keegan’s entertainers nearly beat Manchester United to the Premier League title, but Newcastle have stepped up their game against these Trans Pennine visitors many times.
Although it ended in defeat for Steve Bruce, this was a prime example. Regardless of the fact that Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s side temporarily forgot their recent stumbling blocks to win thanks to late goals from Bruno Fernandes, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Marcus Rashford, Newcastle have played more than their part in a wonderful game.
Solskjær spent his pre-match interviews repeating the message: “We need an answer”.
But Manchester United were behind within two minutes thanks to an own goal from Luke Shaw. It showed the nastiest distractions – Emil Krafth’s flank bounced off the defender’s outstretched leg and over a false footed David de Gea – but came all too easily at the end of a quick and incisive Newcastle counterattack with Allan Saint-Maximin and Jonjo Shelvey manage to outmaneuver their alleged markers.
Now Solskjær really needed the right kind of consideration from his team. He got one, probably to his great relief.
Fernandes believed he scored past Karl Darlow after a one-two with Juan Mata, but the goal was not allowed due to an offside position against the Spaniard. Solskjær frowned, but without the Norwegian knowing it, the storm clouds wanted to lift.
Mata quickly turned a corner and was soon partying after Harry Maguire, who arrived at the pits late and had expertly dodged Jamaal Lascelles, guided over Darlow from six meters. At the end of an unfortunate week with England, the Manchester United captain had finally proven he could do something right.
With Manchester United looking particularly strong on the left, Krafth had started fighting the right-back and Lascelles and Federico Fernández had to make some key blocks and clears while Darlow was good at saving Marcus Rashford’s apparently purposeful 20-yard run shot.
Not to be outdone, De Gea performed similar miracles to deny Saint-Maximin when an ever deeper Newcastle made a very rare attack.
Saint Maximin’s extravagantly fancy footwork later bamboozled Maguire and his friends to the point where the Frenchman finally crossed in Callum Wilson’s direction. The forward’s connection – via an elongated shoe – was right, but De Gea responded with a world-class reflex. Perhaps Dean Henderson’s presence on the bench will sharpen his concentration?
If nothing could justify the greedy demand that pay-per-view subscribers added an extra £ 14.95 to watch this game on top of their regular satellite subscription, at least Saint-Maximin and De Gea had set the tone. No wonder Bruce calls the former “the new David Ginola”.
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The drama continued when VAR signaled a possible penalty and Craig Pawson agreed that Jamal Lewis’ boots had made contact with Rashford’s shin. Fernandes rose, but Darlow threw out his strongest hands to deflect the ball and Bruce breathed a little easier.
It was the first penalty the Portugal international had saved since donning a Manchester United shirt for the first time and it highlighted the fragility of his side’s improvement. As good as Mata and Fernandes were, only one more excellent stop by De Gea held up Shelvey’s shot. Appropriately razed, Fernandes curled up in a sublime curling shot after Rashford’s beautiful back pass before Wan-Bissaka and Rashford enjoyed the final words themselves.
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