Manchester United achieved a very welcome victory in the Premier League on Boxing Day. The Red Devils had a tough time against Newcastle United at Old Trafford, but won 1-0 thanks to a nice shot from Patrick Dorgu. Manchester United rises to fifth place and is now equal on points (29) with fourth-placed Chelsea. Newcastle are eleventh with 23 points.
Manchester United had a serious opportunity to open the score after just a few minutes, although Casemiro did not seem to fully realize it. The Brazilian was reached in complete freedom and headed well over. Only then did he seem to realize that both Fabian Schär and Malick Thiaw were not around and therefore had more time than he thought.
Newcastle also created its first major danger from a corner. Bruno Guimarães’ header was not precise enough to surprise Senne Lammens. After that moment, Newcastle slowly but surely took control, although it was unable to capitalize on the many set pieces it received.
Despite the upward trend at Newcastle, the home team suddenly took the lead. Nick Woltemade sent a cross into the air, after which Dorgu opened the score with a wonderful volley into the short corner: 1-0.
Newcastle were the better side in large parts of the first half and this also applied to the phase shortly after half-time, in which they could have leveled through Schär. The Swiss shot narrowly wide via Dorgu. On the other side, Benjamin Sesko shot hard with his left against the crossbar after Bruno Guimarães lost the ball.
Shortly afterwards, Joshua Zirkzee, who seems to be well on his way to AS Roma, came into the line. Newcastle also almost came to the same level with the Schiedammer within the lines. Lewis Hall dribbled forward and hit the crossbar beautifully over Lammens.
A few moments later, Schär shot against the slightly outstretched arm of Martínez, who first got the ball shot against his side and therefore did not have to pay for it with a penalty kick.
Newcastle logically continued to accelerate, but Anthony Gordon also failed to score Newcastle’s first goal. The England international shot narrowly wide. In the very entertaining game, Diogo Dalot was the next to score. The Portuguese took a free kick well and shot just over.
Time was running out for Newcastle, who just couldn’t get past Lammens. Gordon certainly did not have his day, because the normally clinical winger also missed the next opportunity. After a smooth attack, he shot over from the edge of sixteen.
Three minutes before the end, Tyrell Malacia came on as a substitute. These were the first minutes of the season for the Dutchman, who recently fought his way back into the first team. Man United also held firm in the seven minutes of injury time, and so Amorim’s team is approaching the top four.
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