Edison Cavani and David de Gea’s heroics earned United a point and denied relegation threatened Newcastle United a precious win
By Kehinde Okeowo
Manchester United scraped a 1-1 draw against Newcastle United at St James’ Park, despite a poor performance to deny the Maggies what would have been a precious win.
Allan Saint-Maximin’s fine first-half goal put Newcastle ahead in the 7th minute after dancing through Ralf Rangnick’s backline to give Newcastle an a1-0 lead.
But Uniteds’ substitute, Edinson Cavani scored a scarcely-deserved equaliser after his initial effort was blocked by the Newcastle captain, Jamaal Lascelles.
David de Gea must also take some credit for several superb saves, as it required some typical heroics from him to deny Miguel Almiron a late Newcastle winner.
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The point leaves Newcastle United in 19th position and on 11 points, two from safety but having played more games than Norwich in 20th, Burnley in 18th, and Watford in 17th position.
Edison Cavani also missed an opportunity to give United a win but his goal ensured that Ralf Rangnick kept his unbeaten run going as interim Red Devils boss.
The point, however, did not boost their top-four ambition as it kept them in 7th when a win would have taken them as high as 5th.
United’s German coach told Sky Sports after the match that they were second best in most departments of the game and that even their equaliser did not swing the match in their favour.
He said. “Today we didn’t control the game apart from a few moments.
“It’s all about energy, physicality, and who wins the second balls. In all those areas we weren’t at our best.
“You have to be ready and able to win those direct duels and this was not that often the case. When we were in possession we had too many giveaways and even with the goal, that doesn’t make things easy.
“Today was not a question of body language, it was a question of body physicality. If you want to be competitive here you have to get physical and this was not the case in many parts of the game.
“Our biggest problem was the mistakes we made. Even when we scored the equaliser we were not controlling the game and making the right decisions.
“I didn’t like the performance at all.”
