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RED CARD: Ramsey (Newcastle)45 min +1: Gordon flicks a ball down the inside-right channel for Ramsey. Lammens gets there just in time. Ramsey goes over the keeper’s arm, and claims a penalty. But the referee thinks there’s no contact, and shows the Newcastle man a second yellow, for diving! Off he goes!
Share45 min: Speaking of that composure … Cunha has a shot from the left-hand edge of the Newcastle D. Ramsdale parries. The rebound clanks off Burn, and tees up Mbeumo, who has to score … but blazes wildly into the Gallowgate!
Share44 min: Mainoo gives the ball away. Then Joelinton passes out for a throw. Composure please, gentlemen.
Share42 min: … and to further illustrate that point, Mainoo, just to the right of the Newcastle D, curls a first-time outswinger towards the top left. Ramsdale claws it out. Great play all around.
Share41 min: Elanga gets in ahead of Shaw down the right. His low cross is flicked softly by Barnes, allowing Lammens an easy claim at the near post. Had Barnes left it, Burn might have connected, six yards out. Everything in this game so far has been nearly as opposed to just so.
Share39 min: Joelinton sticks an arm around Cunha, who was going nowhere in particular deep in his own half, and hauls him back. It’s a no-brainer of a booking. Joelinton sticks both hands in the air and applauds the referee sarcastically, and wants to watch himself. Tonali tells him to pack it in. Then Burn shoulders Sesko on the edge of the Newcastle box. Strangled calls for a penalty, but come on. When play moves on, Shaw hauls back Elanga and also goes into the book. Sixty seconds of the hottest admin-infused action!
Share37 min: Mbeumo is rightly booked for taking down an in-flight Hall.
Share36 min: That was nearly one of the great counter-attacks. No wonder Gordon was fuming. He and Elanga had done so well to bust Newcastle out of defence and into attack.
Share34 min: Fernandes’ delivery isn’t all that. Elanga sends Gordon into space on the counter down the right. Gordon makes an immediate switch to Joelinton on the other flank. Joelinton powers towards the Manchester United box. He should return the ball to Gordon, but opts for a long-distance shot instead. He sends it a long distance over the bar. Many pints of hot steam pour out of Gordon’s lugs.
Share33 min: Thiaw stands on Cunha’s toe, 30 yards from the Newcastle goal, just to the right of centre. He took a fair bit of the rest of Cunha, too, and is fortunate not to go into the book. Fernandes to take the free kick.
Share31 min: Newcastle are beginning to struggle with Manchester United’s press. Their visits into enemy territory getting more infrequent.
Sandro Tonali evades the challenge of Kobbie Mainoo. Photograph: Stu Forster/Getty ImagesShareUpdated at 21.49 CET
29 min: Joelinton and Gordon nearly open Manchester United up down the middle, pinging passes at pace, but Yoro reads the danger to break up the move. Yoro doing his mate Mainoo a favour there, as the Manchester United midfielder hadn’t covered himself in glory earlier in the move.
Share28 min: Mbeumo tears past Hall down the right. His cross is deflected out … or is it? Burn heads back upfield from the byline. Manchester United are awarded the corner anyway. It looked like Burn got there just in time, but the visitors get the decision. It’s probably for the best that the corner that follows leads to another corner that leads to nothing.
Share26 min: Casemiro spins Ramsey near the centre circle, and is hauled back cynically for his trouble. A bit of a needless challenge that earns the Newcastle midfielder a deserved booking.
Share24 min: Fernandes chips a ball in from the right. Sesko makes a proper nuisance of himself, six yards out, and for a split second looks to have got the ball under control, preparing to slam home. But Ramsdale collects, and turns out Sesko had fouled Tonali anyway. Messy from Newcastle’s perspective, though.
Share23 min: Trippier barges into the back of Cunha, and cops a backheel in the face as the pair fall. Trippier looks unhappy, but there didn’t appear any malice in it.
Share22 min: A couple of speculative long balls down the Newcastle right flank. Maguire and Lammens deal with them without too much fuss. Meanwhile Kári Tulinius arches an eyebrow: “Early doors, obviously, but based on the those first 20 minutes it would be hard to correctly discern which team was the one drifting towards a disappointing season, and which was being talked up as outside title contenders.”
Share20 min: Fernandes and Mazraoui combine in making a meal of clearing a loose ball in the Manchester United box. Tonali meets it on the edge of the area, and slices a volley wide left. This match is currently played at a hectic pace, with accuracy at a premium. If you didn’t know any better, you’d suspect every player of ingesting five double espressos just before kick-off.
Share18 min: Maguire barges into the back of Gordon on the halfway line. Forearm across nape of neck. The free kick’s launched long. Burn crumps his elbow into Shaw’s startled coupon. Another free kick, and a couple of players, one on each side, rather fortunate not to go into the book there.
ShareUpdated at 21.34 CET
16 min: Newcastle, who have lost their last three Premier League games here at SJP, will be pleased with this start. They’ve enjoyed 61 percent of possession so far.
Share14 min: Barnes finds Joeliniton down the inside-left channel. Joelinton can’t get the ball under control, but makes enough of a nuisance of himself to force the ball infield for Gordon, who flicks on for Barnes. In a pocket of space just to the left of the D, Barnes opens his body and aims for the top right. Just too high, just too far wide. Lammens wasn’t getting there had it been on target.
Lewis Hall crosses the ball under pressure from Casemiro. Photograph: Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA/Getty ImagesShareUpdated at 21.35 CET
13 min: Barnes advances down the left but can’t get past Yoro. Throw, though. Hall takes it short, and the ball’s sent into the mixer. Yoro’s clearing header isn’t all that, and Elanga meets the dropping ball on the right-hand edge of the D. He volleys harmlessly wide right. It’s been an entertaining start, with both teams showing plenty of attacking intent.
Share11 min: After a slow start, Manchester United are beginning to work their way into the game. Cunha sends a dangerous ball into the Newcastle box from the left, but Sesko isn’t on point to connect. Hall clears with a sigh of relief.
Share9 min: Barnes dribbles into the Manchester United box from the left. He attempts a one-two with Elanga. The ball brushes Mazraoui’s chest. A shout for a penalty, but like the free kick claim earlier, it’s more fan-led than anything from the players. “Hahahahaha,” splutters Chris Paraskevas between mouthfuls of bread and cured pork. “Peter Oh showing an innate understanding of what a ‘Work Breakfast’ entails in Australia. Someone give that man his Permanent Residency / Citizenship: he just past the Secret Test.”
Share7 min: Sesko backflicks infield from the left touchline. A cute touch that releases Fernandes into space. Fernandes shuttles the ball on for Cunha, who flays wildly into the stand despite having time and space just in front of the Toon box. A good chance.
Share6 min: Newcastle are first to everything right now. St James’ Park is bouncing. Local lad Michael Carrick looks unmoved.
Share5 min: A bit of space for Gordon down the right but there’s nobody in the middle to cross to, and in trying to win a corner off Maguire, the ball simply squirts through to Lammens, who snaffles.
Share3 min: Hall bursts into the box down the left. He crosses long. Trippier dinks back in from the right. Lammens and Yoro leave the ball to each other, and it loops over the pair and off the left post! Manchester United clear, and they’ve got away with a big misdjugment there. It would have been a complete fluke on Trippier’s part, mind.
Share2 min: Newcastle get onto the front foot immediately. Hall bombs down the left; Trippier probes down the right. Shaw looks to have tugged Trippier back, but the referee waves play on. Not too much in the way of fume from the players, but the fans aren’t happy that’s for sure.
ShareManchester United get the ball rolling. They’re kicking towards the Gallowgate in this first half.
ShareThe teams are out! Newcastle in black and white stripes, Manchester United in red. Everyone as they should be, looking nice and dandy. Mark Knopfler’s magnum opus tootles in the background, and we’ll be off in a couple of minutes. In the meantime, Peter Oh has a pairing suggestion: “I assume that Chris Paraskevas isn’t having beer with his bacon-and-egg sandwich, given it’s a work breakfast. If he’s looking for a drink recommendation, may I remind him of the adage ‘if life gives you Lammens, make lemonade’.”
SharePre-match postbag. “It’s a mad, mad, mad, mad world when people are starting to talk about this version of Manchester United as the outsider making a late gallop on the outside of the title race. Yet if they want proof that a big lead can be blown at this time of the year, they only have to look at how their opponents today did that famous Devon Loch back in the late 90s. Not so sure how many people would ‘love it!’ if somehow Carrick’s mob actually prevailed, however” – Justin Kavanagh
“Just as the owners of Newcastle United have not lived up to expectations, nor has Eddie Howe ... and for the same reason, they will not fire him” – Jeff Sax
“Because this is an 8.15pm kick off (7.15am here in Australia) it means I’m shaping up to be late to the work breakfast function. My boss’s final words at our last meeting were: ‘We can’t have a situation where people are turning up to meetings literally one minute before they start.’ The fact that she stared at me to punctuate the sentence suggests I shouldn’t bother with the excuses today. But if I do get sacked, at least there’s the usual Bacon and Egg roll on offer, and I can fully focus on our Champions League campaign” – Chris Paraskevas
The bacon-and-egg butty Chris Paraskevas keeps banging on about Photograph: Chris ParaskevasShareMichael Carrick speaks to TNT. “It’s always a challenging game when we come here … and always a good game … the type of atmosphere and environment you want to be involved in … we have to be at our best tonight to get the win … the boys are looking forward to it … on a good run … in good shape … we know this place can throw up many things so we have to be ready for that … we have prepared … we will try to be ready … we’ve put ourselves in a good position … we want to try to capitalise it moving forward.”
ShareA reminder of where both teams lie going into tonight’s five-match card. Manchester United are third and have a chance to consolidate their already-serious claim for Champions League football next season. Or … could they? … they couldn’t, could they? “You can’t rule anything out in football, but we’ve got to be realistic,” said Michael Carrick upon being asked whether a late surge for the title was a possibility. “We’ve just got to try and keep winning games and see.” Newcastle by contrast are simply hoping to nudge their way back into the top half of the table, though that’s not within reach tonight. One step at a time.
ShareEddie Howe speaks to TNT Sports. “It’s always a difficult decision with the goalkeepers … we have two outstanding players for that position … I’ve decided to make a change … hopefully [Aaron Ramsdale] comes in and does well … our home form for a long time has been really strong … [the recent bad form] is not a nice feeling … we want to make this place the fortress that it has been again … the crowd have been magnificent … this is on us as a team … we’ve made too many mistakes … we’re looking to put that right tonight … tonight and the game at the weekend [in the FA Cup against Manchester City] are so important … I think we can do it … football changes really quickly … results haven’t aligned with performances … we’re scoring goals which is a great thing … we just need to get tighter at the back … [Manchester United] have outstanding players … but we’ve got players who can hurt them … it could be quite open.”
ShareNewcastle make two changes to their starting XI following their 3-2 home defeat to Everton. Nick Pope, an error or two in him of late, loses his place in goal to Aaron Ramsdale, while Harvey Barnes comes in for the ill Nick Woltemade.
Manchester United make just one change to their first XI after their 2-1 win over Crystal Palace. Noussair Mazraoui replaces Diogo Dalot, who drops to the bench.
ShareThe teamsNewcastle United: Ramsdale, Trippier, Thiaw, Burn, Hall, Ramsey, Tonali, Joelinton, Elanga, Gordon, Barnes.
Subs: Pope, Botman, Wissa, Osula, Jacob Murphy, Willock, Alex Murphy, Shahar, Neave.
Manchester United: Lammens, Mazraoui, Yoro, Maguire, Shaw, Casemiro, Mainoo, Mbeumo, Fernandes, Cunha, Sesko.
Subs: Bayindir, Dalot, Zirkzee, Malacia, Diallo, Ugarte, Heaven, Tyler Fletcher, Kukonki.
Referee: Peter Bankes
VAR: Paul Tierney
Updated at 20.16 CET
PreambleNewcastle United have lost their last three Premier League games at St James’ Park. The one before that required them to score two goals in stoppage time to turn defeat into victory. So things haven’t exactly been going smoothly for Eddie Howe’s side recently. But my goodness they’ve been good value. With their score first, here is their sequence of results starting with that amazing night against Leeds: 4-3, 3-3, 0-2, 0-0, 3-0, 0-2, 1-1, 1-4, 1-3, 2-3, 2-1, 3-1, 6-1, 1-2, 3-2, 2-3. Say what you will, the Toon give good bang for your buck.
Manchester United aren’t quite as scattergun. They’ve won six out of seven games under caretaker Michael Carrick, for a start, and you’d have to be a curmudgeon-and-a-half to take issue with that. But needs must for this preamble, and rustling up some tension ahead of tonight’s entertainment, so here we go: Carrick’s side were excellent against Manchester City and Arsenal, decent enough against Fulham and Spurs, but a tad stodgy against West Ham, Everton and Crystal Palace, when their bread fell jam side up more often than not. Tonight will be more revealing than the Palace comeback, put it that way. All of which adds up to a microscopic direction of travel that will give Newcastle a small splash of succour as they try to arrest a more alarming trend of their own.
And so here we are! Throw in the fact that Newcastle would still like to take a tilt towards European football next season; that Manchester United are hell-bent on a return to membership of the Champions League they once considered their birthright; that Newcastle have won the last three stagings of this fixture to the cumulative total of 7-1; that Benjamin Šeško is the hot player in the division right now; and that Newcastle and Manchester United is simply one of the great Premier League rivalries … love it, etc. … and this could be really good. Kick-off is at 8.15pm GMT. It’s on!
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