Cavani saves the game for sloppy Man Utd as they drew with relegation-threatened Newcastle
Manchester United have returned to action 16 days after a forced covid pause. Ralf Rangnick’s team and 19th-placed Newcastle failed to sustain the tour’s trend towards an abundance of goals – 1-1 at St James’ Park Stadium. And it was by no means a bad result for the Red Devils, judging by the logic of the match.
In the first half, Newcastle were significantly more active and confident. The league outsider quickly took the lead as Allan Saint-Maximin fired a ball into the far corner through a crowd of MU defenders.
It was an error on the part of Rafael Varane that led to the goal as the defender, who had returned from injury, had the ball snatched from behind his back.
At the start of the second half, Newcastle almost netted their second goal – again, thanks to the efforts of Saint-Maximin. The Frenchman tapped the ball in after a ground from the right – that moment was worth 0.75 xG – but David De Gea repelled the shot.
It was one of the Spanish goalkeeper’s seven crucial saves in the match. David reserved his most spectacular one for the end, when he dragged in from under the bar of Almiron‘s shot.
https://twitter.com/ManUtd/status/1475617994906783745?s=20
Gary Neville, the club legend, rubbished Man United on television for a disappointing first half:
“They’re whinging at each other! They’re a bunch of whingebags! A bunch of whingebags! Watch them on that pitch, honestly, arms in the air, complaining about everything! Honestly, they’re absolutely shocking out there in that first half. They got the last manager the sack! Ralf Rangnick is not going to get the sack, he’s only had a few weeks with them, but honestly, they’ll get a lot of managers the sack, that lot, if they carry on like that.”
Jadon Sancho and Edinson Cavani came on to save the situation in the 46th minute. And in the 71st minute, the Uruguayan seized on a cross from the flank and converted it at the second attempt to make it 1-1.
Cavani has not played in the league since October due to injury.
The 1-1 draw did not do much for the clubs. Newcastle remain in 19th place with one win in 19 rounds (11 points). Man United, with two games to spare, are nowhere near the Champions League zone, with Arsenal on the move and a seven-point lead over the Mancunians. Under Ragnick, United have only scored one goal per game so far.
Summary from the German coach:
“I didn’t like our performance at all. We did not control the game today. It was all about energy, physicality and winning second balls – we were not at our best in those components. On the positive side, we scored a point, but the game has to be better. You need to be ready for one-on-one battles, you need to win them. That was often not the case today. When we possessed the ball, we lost it a lot, even when we conceded a goal. Our biggest problem today was mistakes. Even with the score leveled, we were not in control of the situation, didn’t make the right decisions. It was not the scheme, but the aggressiveness of the game.”
Don`t miss out 👉: EPL Digest – Matchweek 19: bringing you the results and details of all Boxing Day matches