Manchester United faced off against Newcastle United at St. James’ Park earlier tonight as they looked to collect all three points on the road. The Red Devils made a poor start to the game and conceded the opening goal in the seventh minute when Allan Saint-Maximin scored with a brilliant run and finish. Man United failed to come up with a response and went into the half-time break 1-0 down on the scoreline.
Ralf Rangnick’s men were slightly better in the second 45 minutes and managed to score the leveler’s courtesy of Edinson Cavani’s finish in the 71st minute. The contest ended honours even with the Mancunian giants being held to a 1-1 draw at Tyneside.
Let’s take a look at how each Man United player performed during the match against the Magpies.
GK: David de Gea – 7.5/10
The Spanish keeper made a few important saves to restrict the Magpies to just one goal during the 90 minutes.
RB: Diogo Dalot – 6.5/10
He kept a good shape at the back and made some crucial defensive contributions inside his half. Dalot engineered one key chance in the Newcastle half.
CB: Raphael Varane – 7/10
Varane cleared his lines when needed and got stuck in with a few solid tackles to keep the home side frustrated in the second half.
CB: Harry Maguire – 6/10
Maguire put his foot through the ball at times but was quite shaky on the defensive end of the field. He fashioned one good chance going forward.
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LB: Alex Telles – 7/10
He performed his defensive duties well and made some decent opportunities for his teammates to score.
CM: Fred – 6.5/10
Fred struggled to protect his backline at times but made two inviting chances in the opposition half. He got replaced at half-time.
CM: Scott McTominay – 7/10
He was always willing to make a tackle and earned the ball back twice at the centre of the park. However, McTominay offered very little in the final third.
RAM: Bruno Fernandes – 6.5/10
The Portuguese talent engineered a couple of promising chances for others around him but never looked like he would score tonight.
LAM: Marcus Rashford – 7/10
He wasted a couple of decent chances to find the back of the net. However, Rashford was a constant menace for the Newcastle defenders because of his pace and dribbling ability.
ST: Cristiano Ronaldo – 6/10
Ronaldo was a spectator for most of the game and didn’t get too many clear-cut opportunities to score.
ST: Mason Greenwood – 6/10
He was always willing to have a strike at goal but was mostly quiet in the first half. He got substituted at half-time.
Substitutes:
ST: Edinson Cavani – 7/10
Cavani came off the bench and scored the all-important equaliser in the 71st minute which rescued a point for Man United.
RAM: Jadon Sancho – 7/10
He stretched the opposition defence quite well but never had a sniff at goal.
CM: Nemanja Matic – 6/10
Matic added some bite and steel to Rangnick’s midfield.
