The Thumping Win!!
Manchester United had emerged victorious against Newcastle United with a margin of 4-1 on Saturday in the 12th round of match of Premier League. With this win Manchester United were able to keep their second position in the League Table of the Premier League. Jose Mourinho had preferred to play with a 4-2-3-1 formation in the match against Newcastle United. David De Gea was in the Manchester United Goal in this match while Antonio Valencia, Victor Lindelof , Chris Smalling and Ashley Young were in the United defense. Paul Pogba was back in the side after missing some matches of the season due to injury. He was paired with Nemanja Matic in the heart of the midfield for Manchester United. Marcus Rashford, Juan Mata and Anthony Martial were behind Romelu Lukaku at the upfront of the field to lead the United forward line.
On the other hand, Rafael Benitez had fielded his side with a 4-4-2 formation. Robert Elliot had started in the Newcastle United’s Goal. Manquillo, Clark, Lejeune and Yedlin were in the Newcastle defense for this match. Ritchie, Shelvey, Hayden and Murphy were in the midfield for them against Manchester United. Joselu and Gayle were leading the Newcastle forward line from the upfront.
Newcastle United had got an unexpected lead in the match when Gayle scored from the pass of Yedlin at 14th minute of the match. But the lead was not enough to dominate the Manchester United side at Old Trafford. Anthony Martial had equalised for Manchester United at 37th minute of the match from the pass of Paul Pogba.Manchester United had got the lead for the first time in the match when Chris Smalling had scored in the injury time of first half from the ball given by Ashley Young. The first half had ended with Manchester United leading with a 2-1 margin at Old Trafford.
In the second half, Manchester United were more pivotal in front of the Goal. Paul Pogba had made the scoreline 3-1 for Manchester United at 54th minute of the match from the ball given by Marcus Rashford. Romelu Lukaku had sealed the game for Manchester United when he had scored from the pass of Juan Mata at 70th minute of the match. Marouane Fellaini, Ander Herrera and Zlatan Ibrahimovic had come in the second half as substitutes for Manchester United. Newcastle United had also used three substitutions but they were not able to mark an impact in the match. The match had ended with Manchester United winning with a 4-1 margin against Newcastle United.
With this win Manchester United have collected 26 points from their 12 encounters so far. They are now at the second position in the league table, but they are still 8 Points behind the League leaders Manchester City.
The Loss That Raised Fingers
Following this huge win, the Red Devils played against FC Basel in the Group Stage match of UEFA Champions League and ended up losing 1-0 away from home. Things did not look so positive for them anymore, as inconsistency played a part in this loss and Jose Mourinho will have to sort things out, with some crucial matches coming up.
Editor’s View: Problems Which United Need To Sort Out-
3. Regularly Scoring goals-
Jose Mourinho’s team needs to regularly keep scoring goals, which they failed to do in the game against Basel on Tuesday evening. Had they taken their chances and scored, the result could have been something totally different and they would have not suffered this defeat. Such has been the case for them right through the campaign, losing close encounters in which the final result could have been totally different if they only had taken the chances that they had got.
2. The Defensive Line-
The defence really needs to sort things out, as currently Ashley Young and Antonio Valencia (two former wingers) are their best two stars out of the back-line and they are facing serious centre-back issues. Injuries and poor form has been the concern for Mourinho and his defensive line, with players going in and out of the team, disturbing the balance and not allowing them to settle at the back. This needs to really change and soon.
1. Inconsistency-
The overall performances have lacked consistency and they have seen some ups and downs with regards to the form of the team. They have been winning some games with a huge margin, while have been struggling in other ones, which will have the fans and the Portuguese manager worried, as to what the team might produce next. They need to keep winning as we slowly head towards the business end of the season and Manchester City dominating the league and losing in the cup competitions meaning direct elimination.
