Thomas Hein
Manchester United needed a 90th minute Alexis Sanchez goal to beat Newcastle United 3-2. Jose Mourinho came into the game under pressure and things did not start well for the home side.
Newcastle were 2-0 up in the first 10 minutes as Kenedy and Yoshinori Muto scored. The home side played horrible football and Mourinho decided to switch things up.
Marouane Fellaini and Juan Mata were brought on and the Spaniard got the first goal for us. Anthony Martial made it 2-2 to get the crowd going before Sanchez wrapped up the win.
It could have been a different story but this was vintage United – akin to performances we put up under Sir Alex Ferguson. The Red Devils attacked relentlessly in the second half and were good for the win.
It will be interesting to see what happens with the manager in the coming days and here are the player ratings from the game.
David de Gea – 7/10
De Gea couldn’t do much to stop the two goals he conceded but did a decent job of keeping us in the game.
Ashley Young – 5.5/10
The Englishman was responsible for both goals we conceded. Young shouldn’t play as a right-back, but he did come up with the cross that Sanchez scored from.
Eric Bailly – 2/10
The Ivorian was replaced after 19 minutes for Juan Mata. The defender was poor and it was a surprise seeing him being replaced so early.
Chris Smalling – 5/10
Possibly our best central defender from the season was struggling today, like most of our players.
Luke Shaw – 5/10
Another player that didn’t do well, Shaw could have attacked Newcastle but couldn’t get going early on.
Scott McTominay – 4/10
The midfielder was substituted at half-time and Mourinho did him a favour by waiting till the end of the first half.
Nemanja Matic – 4/10
Another player who was horrible in the first half. It was a surprise Mourinho kept him on for the rest of the game.
Paul Pogba – 6.5/10
We should be getting so much more out of the midfielder. Pogba was average, even though we were pushing for a win in the second half.
Marcus Rashford – 4/10
Rashford had a couple of wonderful chances to score but wasted them. More questions will arise about his ability at United.
Romelu Lukaku – 6.5/10
Big Rom ran around a lot but couldn’t do much in attack. Still, we won’t question his commitment to the side.
Anthony Martial – 6.5/10
Martial was having a poor game too but he did score an important second goal against the Magpies.
Substitutes
Juan Mata – 6.5/10
The Spaniard got the United engine going with a superb free-kick in the second half.
Marouane Fellaini – 6.5/10
Fellaini did his bit by coming on at half-time and helped us gain some control in the game.
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Alexis Sanchez – 6.5/10
Sanchez came up with the winning moment, which will be a huge boost to his confidence at United.
