Manchester United 4-1 Newcastle United: 3 Reasons Why the Red Devils won

Manchester United thumped Newcastle United 4-1 at Old Trafford to move into 7th position in the Premier League. The victory also meant that the Red Devils trimmed the deficit to the top four to 4 points.

The hosts started the game brightly and immediately dominated possession. However, against the run of play, Newcastle went ahead in the 17th minute when Matty Longstaff turned in the box and fired past David de Gea.

The Magpies’ joy was short-lived though as Anthony Martial restored parity just after a quarter of the encounter had passed. 12 minutes later, Mason Greenwood handed the hosts the lead when he clattered his shot past Martin Dubravka, albeit via a slight deflection.

In the 41st minute, Marcus Rashford capped off a wonderful first half showing when he towered above Fabian Schar to nod Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s cross into the net.

After the restart, Martial completed his brace when he latched onto an errant pass to clip the ball over the keeper.

United had a few chances to increase their tally but were unable to do so as the match ended 4-1 in their favour.

Here is a look at the three reasons that allowed them to post an emphatic victory.

#3 Manchester United’s front three fire in unison

For Newcastle’s visit, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer decided to field the effervescent trio of Greenwood, Martial and Rashford. And, the young triumvirate didn’t disappoint as they turned in brilliant displays, thereby enabling the Red Devils to emerge with three points.

United began the game with plenty of possession and subsequently found themselves in the opposing half quite often. However, during the early exchanges, they found the going a tad tough, meaning that the Magpies were able to contain them.

Yet, as the minutes ticked by, the hosts’ forwards grew into the game and started imposing themselves on the encounter. Unsurprisingly, the Red Devils created more openings in the final third, a passage that eventually enabled them to mount a comeback.

Greenwood looked a bundle of energy on the right flank throughout the contest and linked up effectively with Wan-Bissaka. Additionally, his tendency to cut inside allowed the full-back to overlap on the wing and create situations of numerical superiority.

On the other side, Rashford was a constant menace for the visitors as he kept finding spaces in between the lines. In the process, he was allowed the time and space to turn and run at the Newcastle defenders. Furthermore, his intricate build-up play with Martial dragged the Magpies’ rear-guard into uncomfortable areas.

However, Martial outshone his strike partners on the night as the Frenchman strung together an exceptional display, both on the ball and off it. At times, he dropped deep, meaning that he allowed runners to run beyond whereas on other occasions, he played on the shoulder of the last defender.

Moreover, akin to Greenwood and Rashford, he showcased excellent composure to clinically finish the opportunities that came his way.

Over the course of the current season, goals have been a slight problem for Solskjaer and his troops. Yet, with the Norwegian having stumbled upon a youthful solution, one reckons that that particular quandary could be eased to an extent.

#2 Newcastle incessantly shoot themselves in the foot

Manchester United were aided massively by Newcastle

Newcastle came into the encounter on the back of a relatively decent run of form, which also included a stirring 2-2 draw with Manchester City. Thus, plenty expected the Magpies to ruffle a few feathers at Old Trafford, although they were still labelled underdogs.

At the outset, the visitors underlined their credentials excellently as they executed their game-plan to the tee. They sat back, invited United to commit men forward and then broke at pace. Consequently, they surged ahead when M. Longstaff arrowed the ball into the bottom corner following another swift counter attack.

However, minutes after nudging ahead, the Magpies shot themselves in the foot as Dubravka allowed a routine strike from Martial to elude him at the near post.

In the 36th minute, Newcastle pushed the self-destruct button again as Fabian Schar presented Greenwood a chance on a platter. The latter capitalized and ensured that United led before half-time.

The propensity of digging holes for themselves continued after the break too as Sean Longstaff’s wretched back-pass fell enormously short of the goalkeeper and in turn, fell into the path of Martial. The Frenchman proceeded towards goal and cleverly dinked the ball over the onrushing keeper.

The past couple of months have seen Newcastle establish themselves as a tough nut to crack, especially against the traditionally stronger outfits. Yet, on Thursday, the Magpies embodied the Boxing Day and Christmas spirit, meaning that they offered a gift too many at Old Trafford.

#1 Manchester United finally make the most of their possession

Over the past few months, Manchester United have been guilty of not optimally utilizing possession, meaning that they’ve squandered several chances to put teams away. To put things into further perspective, before the game against Newcastle, they’d won only one of their previous 17 games in which they had enjoyed the majority of the ball.

Fortunately for them though, nothing of that sort materialised on Thursday as they breached a rather brittle Newcastle defence on four occasions. Though the Red Devils were massively aided in their endeavours by the visitors, there were plenty of positives for the hosts.

Firstly, they moved the ball a lot quicker and weren’t guilty of slowing down movements in the middle third. In the process, the above enabled them to find spaces in the offensive third and ultimately, carve out opportunities.

Secondly, the inclusion of Andres Pereira formed the perfect link between the midfield and attack as the Brazilian was at the heart of everything the hosts did throughout the encounter.

He popped up in between midfielders, laid the ball off for his teammates and also took up wide positions at times, thereby creating space for the forwards to maraud in-field.

Furthermore, Luke Shaw and Wan-Bissaka forayed forward regularly to pin the Magpies’ wing-backs in their own half. Consequently, that permitted them to impose their identity and dominate the visitors.

Ever since Solskjaer’s tenure at the helm began, the Norwegian has preached an attacking brand of football that would be in sync with the traditions of the ball. Yet, that particular aspect hasn’t really panned out as expected, especially against sides in the bottom half of the table.

And, though they bucked the trend against Newcastle on Thursday, it is now up to the Red Devils to prove that that performance represented the norm rather than acting as an anomaly.