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Manchester United 4:1 Newcastle United

Post-match discussion


Sat, 11 September 2021

Abraxas

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I thought we attacked well today against a team clearly set out to frustrate, waste time, defend the box. You could see at times we lack a bit of natural width, particularly on the right and it made things quite congested. But we did move the ball well enough to create openings despite this.

There were some worrying moments on the break. It's completely expected when you push everybody forward as we had to, but Saint Maximin continues to be a thorn in our side. He's a good player. I thought we made some dubious decisions in 1 v 1 situations defensively, diving in at the wrong moments etc. We could have done better in a few of these defensive actions but overall it's a small criticism of an otherwise good performance.
 

stu_1992

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Great result! Well that was a very enjoyable game, especially the second half after the frustration of the first.

Delighted Ronaldo got 2 in the, but the selfish part of me wanted 3. Anyway I don't think we need to have any concerns about him scoring goals.

What a fecking goal by Fernandes though! Determined not to be outdone by Ronaldo, he certainly delivered a more than memorable goal. Perfectly in the top corner. And Lingard's wasn't half bad either. Nice little shift of the ball to wrong foot the defender and a very nice finish with it too. Some nice play from Pogba, Van De Beek, Martial and Lingard himself in the buildup to that goal so that was also great to see.

First half and little bit in the second I thought we lacked a little bit of concentration. Wan Bissaka and Shaw were guilty of this at times, but certainly the midfield players too. It wasn't so much the sloppy passing we can sometimes see (and what was evident in recent weeks) but rather a lack of awareness of where the opposition and therefore giving away the ball or getting involved in sloppy play when we didn't need to.

I want to mention Varane as I thought he was very good this game. Won his headers very well. Was quite proactive defending, and had some nice passes too. I was impressed.
 

Strelok

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Ronaldo scored twice on his debut, Bruno scored a cracking goal, even Lingard scored a very beautiful goal. Simply can't complain. Very good match indeed. Ronaldo gonna be huge for us this season especially in matches like this :devil:
 

DSG

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Decent game. Far from perfect, but win is a win.
Key takeaways:
- Ronaldo is amazing. Simply amazing.
- Lingard is probably more ready than Sancho. More experience in the league and seems like he might be maturing. Could be knee jerk reaction, but time will tell.
- Matic is past it. Too many simple mistakes, did not control midfield as he once has. Still better than Fred tho?
- We need to improve our midfield and thus passing. It is still slow, and it still is full of errors that lead to dangerous counter attacks

I am hoping there will be progress so we look like a top team. Verane and Ronaldo should help but there is just a hole in that midfield. Fred and Matic are just not good enough.
It is knee-jerk. Sancho is constantly attacking and moves in the final third with intention. Lingard had a really nice goal, happy for him, but he’s not good 1v1 and his first inclination is to keep possession and play the ball back.
 

Jazz

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Only Ronaldo could handle the enormous pressure and spotlight on this debut. It was important for him to start well but also for us to stay on course and get those 3 points.

So very happy the team came out with the win because it cannot have been easy with all the attention.
 

Irwin99

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Ronnie gonna break a few records/reach a few milestones this season- will easily get to his 100th PL goal. :devil:
 

Sviken

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Dream debut from Ronaldo. Didn't expect it to go so well. Sancho was good, especially in the first half - I don't know why people are slacking him so much. Pogba was amazing. Bruno was terrible, if not for his goal. Ole needs to tell him to relax and stop trying to make shit happen when there is no need to. Some of his decisions are utterly baffling. His greed is also unbecoming for a United player. I love that part about Bruno, but sometimes he just tries too hard and is a detriment to the team. Varane was absolute class, Maguire did well, but had some costly mistakes, which is kinda like a staple for him at the moment. Matic was fecking dreadful.

And I don't think we played all that well, tbh. Newcastle with their few attacks were far more dangerous than us with our mindless possession. Few class individual performances and an overall headless team that has problems stringing simple passes and has the tempo of playing a pre-season friendly. I don't know what is going with the coaching, but it's pretty bad. My main criticism has to go towards Ole. He continues to make dreadful team selections. Matic had no business being in this game (or any game for that matter at this point)

I'm afraid we can't rely on Ronaldo every time to bail us out or Pogba or Bruno or whoever. The coaching really needs to step its game up and instead of individual brilliance, we have to start producing great teamwork and great teamplay. Otherwise it's simply another wasted season for us with a simple top 4 finish and nothing else to show for. I know that I may be too harsh given the result, but the scoreline is flattering for us, tbh.
 

largelyworried

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Thoroughly enjoyable stuff. Even their goal did nothing more than make Ronaldo's second sweeter. Just wonderful to see Ronaldo back on the hunt again. His second goal was classy, the way his touch just keeps it away from the defender. Lovely stuff.

The overall performance was not as free-flowing as the scoreline suggests, but while I sometimes criticize Ole for this, I think on this occasion was it was just Newcastle flooding the box. Playing with 9 opposition players no more than 20 yards from the box makes it tough, no matter how good you are. It meant every attacker had two defenders on them at all times. Our class saw us through though, which I hope will be the case many times this season. We still banged in four anyway, so cant be that bad.

I think as the euphoria dies down, the midfield will be the main point of worry. Pogba was fine going forward, but Matic was frankly dire and going backwards Pogba offered him nothing by way of support. I honestly would prefer to try VDB instead of Matic if McFred aren't available. Matic offers nothing in terms of tackling and his retention of possession was downright dangerous at times.

Still, great stuff to watch. Can't wait for the highlights to appear so I can watch it all over again.
 

OneUnited24

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Not sure I agree with people saying it wasn’t a good performance. We were against a side that were set up to defend and hope to get us on the break. Think all of their threatening moments were caused by us. For their goal shaw was too far forward and for whatever reason maguire went diving in when it was never really on.

Thought we did well vs a organised team that was intent on defending and making it hard for us.

Ronaldo Will take the headlines but I though Sancho did well. Very lively and will only get better. His ball control is something else
 

Beachryan

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Thought Sancho definitely improved. I don't watch all that much of the Bundesliga, but can't imagine anyone looks amazing against a back 9. There were always 3 defenders on his side - so little room to work with.
 

Varane around town

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Fantastic.

I wasn't as straightforward as the scoreline suggests but it's worth remembering that this is going to be one of Newcastle's biggest games of the season.

Ronaldo showed that he's still stone cold class and we've got the best striker in the Prem this season, I thought Sancho looked like he's improving and we're going to have a brilliant utility player in Lingard.

Onwards!
 

SoCross

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I’m looking forward to Cavani and Ronaldo playing together, the formers movement is going to create so much space for Ronny!

Viva!
 

R'hllor

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Score doesnt reflect performance but what else to expect when they parked a bus, plus breaking compact defenses in final 3rd aint our cup of tea last few years.

Matic, 2nd half dear God, hope he pays % of his wage to all who green lighted new contract, dunno how he is still here.

Overall, really good 3pts, GD up, Ronaldo carried in most important moments.
 

Tony247

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Why sky insist on taking interview with so much background noise. Pointless.
 

RedPed

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They kept showing Avram Glazer in the stand looking like he was enjoying the game and all smug-like with his master stroke coming off.

Great game and performance. Only disappointed with the City win but hoping that we can maintain a long run at the top of the table. Sancho will take time to bed in and VDB really needs a game.

Ronaldo will be finishing his dinner with a big smile tonight. Think he sat some of the haters down. Merson was looking like a right clown on Soccer Saturday.
 

SirAnderson

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They kept showing Avram Glazer in the stand looking like he was enjoying the game and all smug-like with his master stroke coming off.

Great game and performance. Only disappointed with the City win but hoping that we can maintain a long run at the top of the table. Sancho will take time to bed in and VDB really needs a game.

Ronaldo will be finishing his dinner with a big smile tonight. Think he sat some of the haters down. Merson was looking like a right clown on Soccer Saturday.
Is he having lots of soups???
 

BusbyMalone

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Ronnie!!! :):)

Awesome. Was surreal to see him scoring for us again.

Great result, of course, but it does worry me slightly how easy it is for teams to cut through us. Newcastle looked dangerous on multiple occasions. We need to sort that out.
 

Man of the Match

Cristiano Ronaldo image Cristiano Ronaldo 84% of 426 votes

Runners-up

Player Ratings

6.8 Total Average Rating

Highest Rated Player

Lowest Rated Player

Compiled from 431 ratings.

Score Predictions

332,5,4
  • Man Utd win
  • Newcastle win
  • Draw

Detailed Results

  • 35% Man Utd 3:0 Newcastle
  • 21% Man Utd 4:0 Newcastle
  • 13% Man Utd 2:0 Newcastle
  • 12% Man Utd 5:0 Newcastle
  • 7% Man Utd 3:1 Newcastle
  • 2% Man Utd 2:1 Newcastle
  • 2% Man Utd 4:1 Newcastle
  • 2% Man Utd 5:1 Newcastle
  • 1% Man Utd 1:0 Newcastle
  • 1% Man Utd 0:0 Newcastle
  • 1% Man Utd 5:2 Newcastle
  • 1% Man Utd 1:2 Newcastle
  • 0% Man Utd 0:1 Newcastle
  • 0% Man Utd 0:2 Newcastle
  • 0% Man Utd 0:5 Newcastle
Compiled from 341 predictions.
Show more results Score Predictions League Table

Match Stats

  1. Man Utd
  2. Newcastle
Possession
65% 35%
Shots
21 12
Shots on Target
7 3
Corners
7 3
Fouls
9 2

Referee

Anthony Taylor