Ruben Amorim was crouching, shaking his head in disbelief. Even a brief time in charge of Manchester United has acquainted him with disappointment but nothing he had witnessed to date had seemed this disastrous. As Newcastle United powered to a victory where their regret should be that it wasn’t a thrashing, Amorim’s ideas were unravelling before his eyes.
Having warned his job could be in danger if United carried on losing, his team produced a first 35 minutes so abject that it suggested perilous times may await. In that context, an eventual 2-0 defeat was relatively respectable. This promised to be five or six, the sort of scoreline that would echo through the ages. Amorim finished off warning his side could be in a relegation battle. “It is a really difficult moment, one of the more difficult moments in the history of Manchester United,” he said. “I think our club needs a shock.” They got it in an abject start. In that context, an eventual 2-0 defeat was relatively respectable. This promised to be five or six, the sort of scoreline that would echo through the ages.
It was still a fifth league defeat in a month, something United had not suffered since 1962. It was another historic low for a club who seem to specialise in plumbing new depths. “It is a bit embarrassing to be Manchester United coach and lose a lot of games,” said Amorim. No manager has made such a bad start at the club for nine decades. No United team had lost three consecutive home league games for 45 years. This one were beaten inside 20 minutes.
It threatened to be humiliation for Manchester United. It was still jubilation for Newcastle United. Eddie Howe’s side had won 3-0 at Old Trafford in the Carabao Cup last season but Newcastle only had one league win at Old Trafford in half a century. “We know the hurt this fixture has had for us historically,” said Howe. “It was a big step forward psychologically.”
Since Frank O’Farrell was in charge at Old Trafford, only Yohan Cabaye knew what it was like to score in a league victory for the Magpies here. Now Alexander Isak and Joelinton can testify from personal experience. Each scorer told a tale, of a superior striker and midfield supremacy that proved the pillars of a triumph that could have consequences for them.
Newcastle’s fourth consecutive Premier League victory took their aggregate score in that time to 13-0. They are charging into Champions League contention with an elan that reflects well on Howe.
Factor in the slide of a Manchester United side who now only have three points from the last 18 available and Newcastle have rarely come to Old Trafford as such favourites. They brimmed with confidence, oozed with intent, a team who sought to make a statement and did. They cut the other United open at will. The first 10 shots of the game all came from Newcastle. That isn’t even counting a disallowed goal from the offside Isak. It was an astonishing level of dominance against an atrocious United side.
Amorim was culpable. He picked the wrong team, in the wrong formation. His trademark 3-4-3 was unlocked. It was a manager with a well-planned strategy against one trying to impose his blueprint on players unsuited to it. If nothing else, and while remaining adamant he will not change his shape, he did not try and dodge the blame. “I am responsible. I don’t like to arrive here and make excuses,” he said. “I think people are tired of excuses in this club.”
In midfield, United’s indiscipline came at a cost. Lacking their midfield ball-winner Manuel Ugarte and captain Bruno Fernandes because of bans, they were weak, but weakened by the system and managerial choices. The pensionable pair of Christian Eriksen and Casemiro were pitted against the trio of Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton: far more athletic, featuring two classy passers. United were outnumbered, outthought, overrun, overcome.
After half an hour, Amorim substituted Joshua Zirkzee, to huge cheers and some boos, seeking to bolster his midfield with Kobbie Mainoo. It was a visceral vote of no confidence in Zirkzee, an awful signing. It improved his side. Mainoo made a difference. Amorim conjured a response after the break.
But by then, the game was gone, an evening already horribly chastening. Newcastle were ahead after four minutes, the tone set by their spearhead. While supporters traded songs about Alan Shearer, Isak is Newcastle’s best centre-forward since their record goalscorer. He finishes 2024 with 25 Premier League goals, nine in a flurry in the last six matches. He is outstanding, another indication that one United have succeeded in recruitment as another have failed. Amorim’s flimsy side could not handle him.
He picked a side with five defenders and they couldn’t defend. They conceded to two left-wing crosses in the first 20 minutes. The particular culprits were Noussair Mazraoui, who cut out neither cross, and the stand-in skipper Lisandro Martinez, who did too little to stop either scorer.
Newcastle led when a cross-field pass from Guimaraes found Lewis Hall, a pinpoint cross from the left-back being met with a towering header from Isak. Then Anthony Gordon’s cross was shouldered in by Joelinton. As Tonali shot against the post, as the efforts rained in on Andre Onana’s goal, a third goal seemed inevitable.
But Amorim acted and Zirkzee made his ignominious exit. First Rasmus Hojlund and then Casemiro could have pulled a goal back but each shot wide. The Brazilian’s was a glaring miss. After the break, Harry Maguire headed Diogo Dalot’s cross against the post.
As Amorim tinkered, one option remained unused. Marcus Rashford was at least back in the squad but he stayed a spectator, looking on as Amorim’s reign got worse.
