Man United 1 Newcastle 0
Patrick Dorgu where did that come from? I must admit that I’ve not been Patrick Dorgu’s biggest fan since he joined United in January but he was utterly immense at right-wing in this game, the goal was pure brilliance but I was more impressed with him elsewhere in this game. His delivery from crosses was much improved and he looked fearless taking on his full-back when he got the chance which we haven’t seen when he plays at wing-back in this team. It comes at a good time with Amad and Mbeumo away to AFCON and hopefully he can continue this form in the next few games which look winnable for United against Wolves, Leeds and Burnley.
How bad was that second half? I’ve gotta say that that second half seemed to take an absolute age with Newcastle putting in cross after cross to no avail, as a fan of the United playing in red I was sure we were going to concede at some point with the 11 at the end of game consisting of players a lot of people have probably never heard of in Tyler Fredricson and Jack Fletcher but it shows just how low United are in senior players when they have to throw on youngsters at half-time but it’s in the DNA of the club to trust the young players and that’s what Ruben Amorim did in the second half and it paid off in only United’s second clean sheet of the season but a well deserved one in the end with Senne Lammens rarely tested throughout the 90 minutes.
Where do Newcastle go from here? Newcastle are a completely different team away from home and it shows in their position in the table currently sitting 13th and 6 points off the top 5 where they really want to be in the league. Eddie Howe’s side have only won 1 match away from home in the league this season against Everton and you wonder if history is repeating itself when Newcastle are in Europe and then struggle in the league. It seems like Newcastle fans are growing weary of Eddie Howe and I wonder if Newcastle can really get to that next level with him in charge, I have sympathy after the disastrous transfer window that Newcastle had but how long will the owners keep their patience if Newcastle don’t finish in at least the European spots this season.
Ayden Heaven continues to impress. Before the game I was worried about the defence being low on confidence after the last few games but I’ve got to say I was thoroughly impressed at how Heaven and Martinez handled the Newcastle attack in this game, it was so good to see Lisandro Martinez back in the starting 11 and him and Heaven are a joy to watch on the ball. Heaven just looks so confident on the ball at the back with there really being no point in pressing him as he’ll just dribble past you, Heaven has stepped up when United really needed him and it will be interesting to see if he stays in the side when one of Maguire or De Ligt come back from injury, Amorim now knows he can trust Heaven when he needs him which he can’t say about a lot of players in that United squad.
Can Manchester United put a run together over the next couple of weeks? I feel like we ask this after every United win but you look at the fixtures and there’s a real chance to put some wins together in the league over the next month or so. You just wonder if there’s going to be a game where you really notice the lack of quality and experience in this current United squad that is missing so many players at the moment. Matheus Cunha is the player that seems to be taking the responsibility at the moment but he needs to learn to release the ball sooner sometimes instead of just running into defenders, he is United’s spark at the minute and at times is dragging United forward by himself. Hopefully for United’s sake he can keep up this form whilst Amad and Mbeumo are at AFCON.