December 28, (THEWILL) – On Monday night’s English Premier League football, Manchester United cam from a goal down to clinch a 1-1 draw against Newcastle, who will feel they deserved to win at home in St James’ Park.
Allan Saint-Maximin gave the Magpies the lead in the seventh minute, capitalising on some terrible defending from the visitors to bend the ball into the far corner, but Edinson Cavani levelled the scores midway through the second half after a slew of missed chances.
Newcastle could have been out of sight if it had not been for De Gea’s outstanding individual performance, which included a world-class save late on from Miguel Almiron’s bending effort.
Newcastle came out firing, buoyed by a boisterous home crowd, eager to put the pressure on a team that had not played a competitive game in 16 days due to COVID-19-related match postponements.
It was a strategy that paid off right away, as United started the game slowly and ponderously.
Sean Longstaff robbed Raphael Varane of the ball and immediately gave the ball to Saint-Maximin, who turned the ball inside Harry Maguire before hitting a fantastic shot into the far corner.
Jonjo Shelvey then stung De Gea’s palms by rifling a typical Shelvey pile driver from 25 yards out, but the rest of the half lacked any genuine brilliance, with only a Callum Wilson goal being rightfully called offside, being the highlight of the period.
United were dreadful, struggling to piece together passes, let alone giving Martin Dubravka anything to do, but Newcastle’s intensity in and out of possession had given them the upper hand.
Ralf Rangnick responded by bringing on Jadon Sancho and Edinson Cavani at halftime, but Emil Krafth’s brilliant cutback from the byline should have made it 2-0 to Newcastle just a minute into the second half.
However, instead of finding the back of De Gea’s net, Saint-Maximin’s close-range effort lacked power, allowing the Spaniard to palm the ball away from goal.
As the game progressed, a slew of yellow cards were issued, leaving Newcastle to rue their failure to increase their lead. Bruno Fernandes sent a lovely pass over the top to Diogo Dalot, who found the unmarked Cavani. The veteran Uruguayan stabbed in from 12 yards at the second attempt to level the scores.
United had chances to win the game, but nothing was clear-cut, and it was De Gea who stood out when Newcastle pressed late in the game.
After saving a series of shots from Saint-Maximin, he swiftly rose to his feet after Jacob Murphy’s bending attempt hit the post, sending Almiron’s follow-up around the post to ensure the game ended all-square in the North East.
Barring any further COVID-related postponements, Newcastle travel to Everton for their next Premier League fixture on Thursday. On the same day, Manchester United will play Burnley.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
