Man Utd 3-2 Newcastle: Disastrous night leaves European hopes in doubt

Newcastle’s hunt for European football will go to the wire after a hugely frustrating evening at Old Trafford ended in a loss.

Goals from Kobbie Mainoo and Amad Diallo either side of a strike from Anthony Gordon gave a cushion to Man U. Rasmus Hojlund looked to have put the game beyond doubt before Lewis Hall gave some late hope to the Toon with another great strike.

It was a painful watch yet a game we could’ve easily won on another night. We defended so poorly for all three of their goals, missed countless big chances, hit the woodwork several times, struggled with our final ball and were denied a blatant first half penalty. It was the perfect storm and so, so frustrating to lose like that to such a poor Man Utd side who’d won one of their last eight heading into this. However, this has been the story of our season on the road, sadly.

With Chelsea winning 2-1 at Brighton on a damaging night for Eddie Howe’s Mags, the Toon must now win their last game of the season at Brentford to qualify for Europe next season. Sixth is now out of our hands and we’ll only qualify for the Europa Conference League in 7th if we match or better Man Utd’s results on the final day AND see Man City win the FA Cup.

We’ve been on a good run over the past few months in typically tough circumstances, but Europa League football was in our hands and it feels like we’ve just thrown it away, barring a big swing on the final day.

Eddie Howe made one change to the team that was held by Brighton, with an injured Tino Livramento replaced by Kieran Trippier, meaning Nick Pope, Joelinton and Miguel Almiron remained on a bench featuring the fit-again Fabian Schar.

The game had a tensity to it that was to be expected of an end-of-season clash with something to play for. But for the majority of the opening periods Newcastle could not find the right pass to unlock the Man U defence and the Red Devils were able to counter with a proficiency that was missing from our game.

After 30…

Source link : https://www.nufcblog.co.uk/2024/05/15/man-utd-3-2-newcastle-disastrous-night-leaves-european-hopes-in-doubt/

Author : Joshua Nichol

Publish date : 2024-05-15 21:25:29

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