1 year ago
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28 min United are having a bit more of the ball (58 per cent in the last 10 minutes), though I can’t remember the last time they forced Nick Pope to touch it.
27 min “It really is painful as a Manchester United fan watching the team labour like this,” says Matthew Richman. “I can’t blame them - the fixture congestion is one thing but the two players brought in to manage midfield pressure (Eriksen and Casemiro) are also out. I didn’t go in today with high expectations but keeping my eyes on this is just punishing.”
26 min Rashford and Antony have switched wings. Rashford thinks he is fouled by Burn; Stuart Attwell disagrees.
25 min Trippier lifts the ball into Guimaraes in the area. He chests it off to Murphy, who spanks a half-volley high and wide. Lovely play from Newcastle though.
24 min Rashford has been very quiet so far. All United’s attackers have really, with the partial exception of Antony.
22 min Burn fouls Antony again, and the two players briefly square up. Stuart Attwell gives Burn a warning.
22 min It’s a statement of the offensively obvious, but United are so much calmer, never mind better, when Casemiro is in the team.
20 min “I must say that I am impressed how similar Scott McTominay and Wout Weghorst look: both are tall, long-legged, blond and slim,” says Bogdan Kotarlic. “I often confused them while watching United games. Am I the only one who think that they almost look like twins?”
19 min: Another chance for Newcastle! Saint-Maximin’s flat cross is headed just wide of the near post by the stooping Longstaff, though he might have been offside.
18 min At the other end, Antony curls miles wide from the right side of the area. A poor effort, especially as there was a square ball on to the unmarked McTominay.
17 min Saint-Maximin’s shot from the edge of the area is comfortably saved to his left by de Gea, who is much the busier keeper at the moment.
16 min: Brilliant double save from de Gea! Newcastle really should be in front. Murphy’s chipped cross from the right was headed towards goal by Isak at the near post, with de Gea diving to his right to push it away. The ball rebounded to Willock, who whistled a follow-up straight at the prostrate de Gea. I’d need to see a replay but the second one looked like a great chance.
15 min Newcastle work the ball with care and precision from left to right. Longstaff stands up a cross that just evades the leaping Isak.
14 min The lively Antony tries to run Burn, who fouls him and then kicks him in the chest (accidentally, I think, although Antony doesn’t agree) as he runs past.
12 min Guimaraes nutmegs Weghorst 20 yards from his own goal, prompting the lustiest roar of the day so far. Moments later, Weghorst screws a shot into the side netting from Antony’s pass. It was a half chance, which stemmed from McTominay cruching Guimaraes high up the field. That’s a really intriguing contest.
11 min Newcastle continue to make the running, and a timely statbox shows they’ve had 64 per cent of the possession so far.
9 min “Just before the match, I finished listening to a podcast about Panter,” says Joe Pearson. “So to wind you up, I am indeed listening to ‘Cowboys from Hell’ on this sunny midwestern morning rather than Peter Drury. Pantera seems appropriate for Newcastle, somehow.”
8 min Schar has a shot saved by de Gea, though the whistle had already gone for something or other. Newcastle have started well.
7 min Newcastle almost score on the break. Trippier’s very deep cross is headed back across goal by Isak towards Longstaff, who chests it down and cloths a close-range volley that is blocked by Martinez. A goalmouth scramble ensues, and United eventually force the ball away.
6 min Antony beats Burn through sleight of hip and plays a good pass down the side to release Sabitzer on the right side of the area. His low cross is crucially blocked, I think by Botman.
5 min It’s been a lively start to the game, and both teams look bang up for it. Varane almost celebrated a moment ago when Martinez conceded a throw-in with a good tackle on Isak.
3 min Trippier’s corner is cleared at the near post.
2 mikn Longstaff wins an early corner off the sliding Fernandes, an early example of the defensive work he’ll need to do today.
2 min It looks like McTominay is marking Guimaraes, who tends to make Newcastle tick. That’s interesting because it means Fernandes and Sabitzer will be playing deeper a lot of the time.
1 min Peep peep! Wout Weghorst gets the match under way.
The players are ready for business. It’s a lovely day in the north-east, and there’s a cracking atmosphere.
The top (of the) table
“Glad this is a 1.30am kick off down under,” writes Chris Paraskevas. “Had way too much to eat at the Leagues Club (i.e. mini-casino) and need time to digest. Settling in for a fixture that’s brought us the following ‘golden’ moments: Albert Luque’s disallowed goal, David Edgar’s ‘goal’, Nicky Butt being the most obvious Man Utd agent ever (FA Cup semi).”
As for the actual golden moments, and excluding the obvious, I’ve always loved the imagination and duplicity of this Keith Gillespie goal in 1994. I wonder if that was the moment when Kevin Keegan decided he needed to have Gillespie, whatever the cost.
Life moves pretty fast. Eighteen months ago, Brendan Rodgers was one of the favourites for the Manchester United job.
The working man’s ballet
Team news
Newcastle are unchanged from the win at Nottingham Forest last month. Joelinton, back from suspension, is among the substitutes.
United make three changes from their dramatic FA Cup win over Fulham a fortnight ago. Diogo Dalot, Raphael Varane and Antony come in for Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who is ill, Harry Maguire and Jadon Sancho. The lesser spotted Anthony Martial is among the substitutes.
Newcastle United (4-1-2-3) Pope; Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn; Guimaraes; Longstaff, Willock; Murphy, Isak, Saint-Maximin.
Substitutes: Dubravka, Lascelles, Targett, Manquillo, Ritchie, Anderson, Joelinton, Gordon, Wilson.
Manchester United (possible 4-1-2-3) de Gea; Dalot, Varane, Martinez, Shaw; McTominay; Fernandes Sabitzer; Antony, Weghorst, Rashford.
Substitutes: Bishop, Butland, Lindelof, Maguire, Malacia, Fred, Pellistri, Martial, Sancho.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to live coverage of Newcastle United v Manchester United at St James’ Park. It’s a long time since these clubs were rivals. A brief enmity peaked in a tunnel at Elland Road in 1996 and slowly faded thereafter. Roy Keane and Alan Shearer did their best to reignite it, but it pretty much ended when, twenty years ago next week, Manchester United won 6-2 at St James’ Park to end Newcastle’s title challenge. Since then, bar one excruciatingly one-sided FA Cup semi-final in 2005 and maybe a couple of league games, the teams have lived in different worlds.
Newcastle aren’t a wee club in the north-east any more; they never really were, but that’s another story. This season they are peers of Manchester United, fighting for the same trophies and the same Champions League place. Both aspire to something even grander in the medium-term, and if United are taken over by Qatar this could even develop into the Premier League’s biggest rivalry.
It’s a bit early for that, so let’s rewind to April 2023. Today’s game, though not quite as important as February’s Carabao Cup final, is still a big one. Both teams are challenging with Spurs for the two remaining Champions League places. Newcastle, who start in fifth, will go above Spurs and United if they win this afternoon.
The last time Newcastle were in the top three in April and May was, yep, 20 years ago – a time when we were all moving our feet to Junior Senior, Avril Lavigne didn’t know who you were and the two Uniteds were sitting at English football’s top table.
Kick off 4.30pm.
English (US)