Anthony Gordon strike lifts Newcastle to victory over Man United

LONDON – Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag admitted his team were not good enough, as Newcastle United clinched a 1-0 English Premier League victory at a chilly St James’ Park on Dec 2 thanks to Anthony Gordon’s goal.

The Magpies have now won three consecutive games against the Red Devils in all competitions for the first time since January 1922, which came after they lost the League Cup final to United last season.

“We have to give credit to Newcastle. They played better than us tonight,” said ten Hag.

“We started well, but then for a long period, Newcastle had the better performance than us. We went down 1-0 but, to be fair, by the end of the game, we came back and had some good opportunities.

“You could say we defended quite well but I prefer to stay further away from our goal and I prefer to have more of the ball, to play in their half. We had our moments but it wasn’t enough. We could have been more dominant in the game.”

Gordon scored his sixth goal of the Premier League season in the 55th minute when Kieran Trippier played a ball across the six-yard box after United lost possession in midfield.

Miguel Almiron narrowly missed getting to the ball before the wide-open winger tapped it in from the back post.

“I couldn’t be happier with the players tonight,” Newcastle boss Eddie Howe said.

“The performances we put in against three top teams (including 4-1 win over Chelsea and 1-1 Champions League draw with Paris Saint-Germain) were brilliant so that will give confidence and, when we get some players back, we can push on even further.”

The Magpies were without 11 first-team players, yet were utterly dominant for the first hour against a United side who are still yet to register a win against a side in the top nine of the Premier League this season.

Howe’s men peppered United goalkeeper Andre Onana with 22 shots compared with the visitors’ eight. However, United pressed for a late equaliser with a flurry of chances, including Harry Maguire’s headed effort that was ruled out for offside.

At the end of the day, Newcastle were more cohesive and hungry in halting their opponents’ run of four away wins. If not for Maguire and fellow defender Luke Shaw, the score may have been more lopsided.

“I will talk with my team,” added ten Hag.

“We had some chances. We thought we scored a goal but it was offside. We could have scored.”

One negative for Newcastle was goalkeeper Nick Pope going off in the 86th minute after dislocating his shoulder, adding to their lengthy injury list.

“It will be a massive blow for us if he is ruled out for any length of time,” Howe said.

“It looked really innocuous, but that is usually the way and they are normally the more serious ones. You could see he was in distress and it looked like he dislocated his shoulder just diving.” REUTERS, AFP