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Manchester United are in danger of being dragged into a relegation battle after a dismal first-half performance saw them beaten 2-0 by Newcastle at Old Trafford.
United were 2-0 down inside 19 minutes, with Alexander Isak and Joelinton scoring headers from crosses. Isak missed an excellent chance to score in between those two goals and frustration bubbled away inside Old Trafford.
Joshua Zirkzee was replaced just after the half-hour mark, to ironic cheers and boos from United supporters. Ruben Amorim’s side improved for the introduction of Kobbie Mainoo but they have now lost three Premier League games in a row and five of the last six to sit 14th at the halfway stage.
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This is what you might have missed at Old Trafford:
Hojlund frustration
The game was only six minutes old when Amorim was straining his lungs to get a message across to Rasmus Hojlund, demanding he played higher, and probably with more intensity as well.
Even before Newcastle had scored, Hojlund had been caught flat-footed, an obstacle no more demanding to get around than a traffic cone. Fabian Schar simply stepped in front of the Dane and walked off with the ball.
In Amorim’s Sporting system, Viktor Gyokeres played on the last line of defence, looking for balls in behind and to use his speed in those positions. Hojlund has yet to master the demands of a No.9 under Amorim.
Schar continued to school the 21-year-old on several occasions throughout the game. When he picked his pocket midway through the second half Amorim slapped his thigs in anger. It was a night that made it perfectly clear that none of his strikers are up to the task.
United have now failed to score in three successive games, against Bournemouth, Wolves and Newcastle. Liverpool’s defence won’t be losing any sleep ahead of Sunday.
Defenders questioned
As soon as Isak broke clear from halfway 15 minutes into this game, Amorim raised both hands to the sky in disbelief at what he was seeing. United had been on the attack until Bruno Guimaraes took possession off Christian Eriksen, brushing aside the 32-year-old with an embarrassing level of ease.
When Guimaraes picked possession up, he launched a 70-yard ball forward to Isak, who was onside as he loitered on the halfway line, five yards ahead of the dawdling Harry Maguire and Lisandro Martinez, who were never going to win the race from there. Isak spared their blushes with a weak finish.
Amorim quickly shouted at his defenders and lambasted them for their lack of awareness. United fielded three centre-backs once again but they looked all at sea throughout. This lapse of concentration summed them up.
Mainoo impact
Until Kobbie Mainoo came on United were in real danger of embarassing themselves against Newcastle. It was 2-0 after 19 minutes and it looked a question of how many the visitors wanted to score.
But a game that resembled a training exercise for half-an-hour became much more competitive when Mainoo replaced Zirkzee. He finally brought some presence to a midfield that was missing until then.
It might prove to a big game for the 19-year-old, who had struggled to recapture last season’s form this term and hadn’t yet won the trust of Amorim. The impact he had on this game might change all of that.