Manchester United lost again as Steve Bruce’s decision to hand Matty Longstaff a first Premier League start paid off and earned Newcastle United just their second win of the season.
Both sides went into the game at St James’ Park in poor form, winning just two games in their previous 10 attempts in the league between them. Newcastle were coming off the back of last week’s 5-0 loss to Leicester City and Manchester United off a 0-0 draw in the Europa League which saw them have no shots on target.
Bruce’s side had the best of the early chances a Longstaff pinged a long-range effort off the bar and Harry Maguire had to black from Miguel Almiron as the opportunity opened up.
It took Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side until around the 40-minute mark to get a shot on target through Andreas Pereira but on the verge of half time, it was Harry Maguire who should have put the visitors ahead.
Ashley Young played in a corner that beat every Newcastle defender and arrived in Maguire just yards out but the England center-back headed wide from an unmarked position.
The second half was a slight improvement from Solskjaer’s side overall but they didn’t have too many obvious chances to pick from.