Key events
45 min +3: Now it’s Tonali’s turn to give the ball away cheaply, in the centre circle, but Diallo and Mazraoui are unable to combine down the right. Throw-in.
45 min +1: Schar gets sloppy, slapping a simple pass out from the back straight to Mainoo, who rolls the ball to Casemiro in space, just inside the box on the left. Casemiro opens his body and shovels a poor effort wide right. That’s a big chance to halve the deficit. For all their dismal play, Manchester United have now had two great opportunities to score. Somewhere in the multiverse, this game is somehow level.
45 min: There will be three additional first-half minutes.
44 min: … and for their part, Newcastle seem quite happy to stroke it around the back and wait for the half-time whistle, and a well-earned cup of tea.
42 min: Manchester United have got a little bit of a foothold at long last. They’re going nowhere in particular, but again, baby steps. “Gary Neville gets a lot of stick at times but he’s doing superbly well to keep a lid on how he must be feeling,” writes Stephen Carr of Sky’s co-commentator, who has indeed yet to descend into freestyle effing and jeffing, though a man has limits, so give it time.
40 min: Casemiro cuts in from the left and skies a shot that arcs over the right-hand corner flag. He has the good grace to look embarrassed.
39 min: … so having said that, Isak and Joelinton nearly carve Manchester United open down the inside-right channel with some intricate exchanges. Fortunately for the home side, the last pass goes awry.
38 min: That early tactical hooking appears to have given Manchester United a shot across the collective bow. First the Hojlund chance, now Mazraoui battles with Burn down the inside-right channel. Burn eventually wins the duel, shepherding the ball out for a goal kick, but at least there are now signs of life from the home team.
37 min: Zirkzee comes back to the dugout, clutching a bottle of orange drink. What it is, is football.
35 min: Martinez rolls a clever pass down the inside-left channel for Hojlund, who suddenly finds himself clear! He enters the box and larrups a shot across Dubravka … but inches wide of the right-hand post. That’s got the crowd going in a more productive manner.
33 min: Amorim has to do something, and hooks Zirkzee for Mainoo. Zirkzee is cheered off by his own fans. Humiliated, he puts his coat on and heads off for the sanctuary of the dressing room. Zirkzee hasn’t been good, but then who in Manchester United red has? It’s a sad moment.
31 min: Newcastle are giving Manchester United all sorts of trouble. Gordon, Guimaraes and Hall combine down the middle to release Tonali, who swaggers into the box, around Onana on the left, and off the base of the left-hand post. So close to a third.
30 min: In fact, Hall opts to play it short, but the ball is worked back to Tonali, whose cross is met by Burn. Fortunately for the hosts, Burn fluffs his header. Double-fortunately for the hosts, the ball’s then played down the inside-left channel to Isak, who lashes a spectacular shot across Onana and into the top right! But Isak was a mile offside.
29 min: Joelinton and Guimaraes combine down the middle, the ball then slipped wide right towards Murphy, who earns another corner. Hall to send this one in.
27 min: Trippier’s corner from the left is turned around his own post by Onana. A second attempt sees Trippier hit long. Onana ushers it over the bar, though it doesn’t clear the frame of the goal by much. Having conceded direct from corners in their last two matches, Manchester United hearts were in mouths there.
26 min: Hall cuts in from the left and aims a curler towards the top right. Onana is well placed to claim. Then there’s another wave of Newcastle attack, and this time Tonali takes a pop from distance. It’s deflected wide left, with Onana wrong-footed and rooted to the spot. The keeper wasn’t getting there had it been on target.
24 min: Zirkzee plays a loose ball 30 yards from the Newcastle goal, and the Old Trafford supporters howl with annoyance. The former Bologna striker hasn’t got his new fans onside yet.
22 min: Newcastle are finding it ludicrously easy to play through the Casemiro-Eriksen midfield. Those players have combined age of 64. Yours sincerely, wasting away.
20 min: In fact, Joelinton guided that ball into the net with his shoulder, but VAR clears it. Newcastle are good for this two-goal lead, and Ruben Amorim, stunned, is already peering towards a spot approximately 1,000 yards in front of him.
GOAL! Manchester United 0-2 Newcastle United (Joelinton 19)
… but it doesn’t really matter, because Newcastle undo the hosts again. Gordon shows Mazraoui the ball as he dribbles down the left. He checks back, then dinks a cross to the near post, where Joelinton steers a header into the bottom left. Easy As That mk.II.
17 min: Eriksen probes down the inside-left channel but has his pocket picked with ease by Guimaraes, who launches an instant pass down the right wing to release Isak. He’s romping clear from the halfway line! He enters the box, but attempts to chip Onana from a tight angle, and fluffs it completely. The ball drops like a feather into the keeper’s arms. A bit too clever from Isak there. Laces through, and Manchester United were in all sorts.
16 min: Manchester United enjoy a little bit of possession in the Newcastle half. Nothing much comes of it, but it’s baby steps for a team who have started this match cold. They’ve only had 38 percent of the ball so far.
14 min: Murphy crosses deep from the right. Gordon lashes a volley wide left of goal. Seconds before, Hall had the opportunity to bring down a long pass in the box, but couldn’t control as he entered the area from the left. It’s all Newcastle.
13 min: A measure of Newcastle’s confidence: Tonali nutmegs the referee.
12 min: Isak cuts in from the left, sitting De Ligt down and then sashaying past Casemiro. For a second, a glorious individual goal looks on, but his shot isn’t as good as the dribble, and it’s easily blocked. Manchester United are being given the runaround during these early exchanges.
11 min: Gordon spins Mazraoui with absurd ease down the left. Gordon cuts back for Joelinton, who aims a no-backlift whip towards the top-left corner. It’s always heading over the bar, and Onana had it covered anyway. But Newcastle are stroking it around with a swagger right now.
9 min: Casemiro tries to release Dalot down the left but clubs the ball straight out for a goal kick. “United’s confidence is shot,” observes Gary Neville on Sky Sports, before pulling up Martinez for not tracking Isak for the goal.
7 min: Old Trafford was loud at kick-off – the work of John Denver ringing around the walls – but it’s a little bit quieter now. Some roars of defiance from the home faithful but that goal’s rocked most of the crowd. On the touchline, Ruben Amorim continues to throw agitated shapes.
5 min: VAR has a check to see whether Hall was offside when receiving the ball from Guimaraes, but why bother? He’s clearly on, with De Ligt furthest back in the middle. The away section roars with delight as the referee points towards the centre circle.
GOAL! Manchester United 0-1 Newcastle United (Isak 4)
Yep, they’ve started confidently all right. And it’s as easy as this. Space for Hall down the left, sent there by a lovely crossfield pass by Guimaraes. Hall crosses towards the far post. Isak rises, six yards out, and heads downwards, into the bottom right. Onana with no chance. Old Trafford stunned!
3 min: Schar launches long in the hope of releasing Isak down the middle. Onana comes out of his area to deal with the situation, lashing the ball out for a throw. The visitors, with just the one win here in the Premier League era, have started confidently.
1 min: Murphy nearly gets ahead of Dalot down the right, but the Manchester United full back gets a toe on the ball to poke it back to Onana, just in time.
30 sec: Ruben Amorim is already on the edge of his technical area, pointing and prompting.
Newcastle United kick off. They’ll be kicking towards the Stretford End in this first half.
The teams are out! Manchester United wear their storied red, while Newcastle United are in their equally iconic black and white stripes. The Stone Roses blare out of the PA system. This is indeed the one. Peter Oh is also in musical – and indeed festive – mood: “♬ Should old acquaintance be forgot…? ♪ Probably yes, if you’re Man United and you want to finally get out from under Sir Alex Ferguson’s shadow.” We’ll be off in a minute.
Pre-match postbag. “So can we expect Newcastle players to start high-fiving and hugging each other the first time they get a corner tonight? It’s as good as a goal against Manchester United these days, if they stick two Magpies on Onana” – Justin Kavanagh
“All the chatter about Rashford – ‘Is he in is he out, will we ship him out?’ – is simply a distraction from the real story. Manchester United are a mid-table team. Rashford in or out will not change a thing” – Mary Waltz
“The last time we won this fixture I was following on MBM due to a social engagement, which might seem like an oxymoron. I distinctly remember refreshing the page multiple times to confirm that Cabaye had indeed scored and that we were dressed like peak 1970s Brazil: white socks, blue shorts, yellow jersey. But to actually lay my own eyes on an Old Trafford victory. To really be there (via MBM). I̶ ̶w̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶j̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶l̶o̶v̶e̶ ̶i̶t̶” – Chris Paraskevas
As for Eddie Howe, he might have never won at Old Trafford in the league … but he does have this on his CV. A result that will give the Toon succour, despite their distinctly average record at Old Trafford over the years.
A reminder of where the teams are going into tonight’s fixture. Newcastle can rise to fifth place with a win this evening, leapfrogging champions Manchester City in the process to insert themselves in the Champions League mix. Manchester United can’t escape the bottom half of the table, even with victory tonight: whether they finish the day in 11th, 13th or 14th spot, it’ll be their lowest position at the turn of a calendar year since 1989-90, when they languished in 15th spot. Growing pains under a new manager: Manchester United have been here before, and it didn’t pan out too badly for them back then.
It’s Ruben Amorim’s turn to speak to Sky … and Gary Neville asks him whether he’s found his new job more difficult than he thought it might be. “A little bit, yes … because of the schedule … you don’t have a lot of time to train … just prepare the next game … a lot of things you should address you don’t have the time … it’s more difficult … but we will have more time to train now … but we also know with these bad results it’s really hard to sell an idea so we will try to do the same thing but we need more time.”
Has he considered temporarily parking his grand plan? “No because for me it will be the end … you have to be really focused on your idea … if you start changing because of the results it’s the end of any coach and I know that really, really clear … so I will do my things … I am trying to adapt to win games, this I will do, because it’s really important to win games, but I will not stop to sell my idea because it’s the only one … I was hired because of that idea … and because if you, in these difficult moments, change your mind, it’s the end of any coach and I know that really well.”
More on tactics. “I am trying to make the team compact because we suffer a lot of goals … I am also focused on set pieces … we have more possession and more opportunities but one set piece changes the game … we try to use that information to win games … for the team to be more compact … set pieces … to try to use different things … we won against City in this way … we have to control games better … I try to use the characteristics of the players.”
… and finally Marcus Rashford. “We have a lot of players outside so he is in … like I said every week, I choose my players … he was there to be chosen … this time he is here.”
A business-like Eddie Howe talks to Sky Sports. “It’s been a great few weeks for us … we come here in confident form … hopefully we can continue where we left off in our last match … it’s that word confidence, really … we always believe we have a really good team … we know coming here is a really difficult game, it always is, but we’re looking forward to the test … everyone individually is playing a lot better … Manchester United have very good players and an outstanding coach who I am very sure will be successful here … if we can hit our top levels I believe we can beat anybody in the league.”
Manchester United make four changes to the starting line-up after their 2-0 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers … though all eyes are on Marcus Rashford’s return to the squad after four games on the naughty step. Bruno Fernandes and Manuel Ugarte are suspended, while Leny Yoro and Kobbie Mainoo drop to the bench. Casemiro, Christian Eriksen, Matthijs de Ligt and Joshua Zirkzee step up.
Newcastle United are in If It Ain’t Broke mode. They’re unchanged following their 3-0 home win over Aston Villa.
The teams
Manchester United: Onana, de Ligt, Maguire, Martinez, Mazraoui, Eriksen, Casemiro, Dalot, Diallo, Zirkzee, Hojlund.
Subs: Bayindir, ☞☞☞Rashford☜☜☜, Malacia, Yoro, Garnacho, Antony, Mainoo, Collyer, Kukonki.
Newcastle United: Dubravka, Trippier, Schar, Burn, Hall, Guimaraes, Tonali, Joelinton, Jacob Murphy, Isak, Gordon.
Subs: Vlachodimos, Barnes, Osula, Livramento, Almiron, Kelly, Willock, Longstaff, Miley.
Referee: Simon Hooper (Wiltshire).
VAR: Paul Tierney
The great Mancunian soap opera … is of course Coronation Street. It was nice to see Gail get a good send-off on Christmas Day. And her dance in the dream sequence with Richard Hillman was delightful. But there’s Marcus Rashford as well, and Manchester United have posted footage on the old Twitter of the striker, who had been left out of Ruben Amorim’s squad for United’s last four games, arriving at Old Trafford all dressed for work. So that’ll have a bearing on tonight’s teamsheets. Speaking of which …
Preamble
Manchester United have lost their last three games in all competitions, and their last two at Old Trafford, shipping three goals on both occasions. Newcastle United by contrast have won their last four by an aggregate score of 14-1. On the other hand, Newcastle have only won once in their last 39 visits to Old Trafford in the league, and Eddie Howe’s never won here in the league at all, drawing two and losing five of his seven visits. So both teams have some historical straw to cling onto, even though the here-and-now stuff favours the visitors, who are looking to condemn their hosts to a third consecutive league defeat for the first time since 1979. Kick-off is at 8pm GMT. It’s on!
