Newcastle vs Manchester United LIVE: Premier League result, final score and reaction tonight
Follow all the fallout from St James’ Park
Newcastle United welcome Manchester United to St James’ Park this evening as the visitors take to the pitch for the first time in over two weeks.
Covid-related disruptions to the Premier League’s calendar saw Man United’s fixtures against Brighton and Brentford postponed earlier this month, with the Red Devils’ Carrington training ground closed for a brief period thereafter. It remains to be seen whether the lack of action will help or hinder Ralf Rangnick’s seventh-placed team, who may be slightly short of match sharpness but who have had a bit more time to get used to their new interim coach’s style of play. A victory here would take them fifth.
Meanwhile, Newcastle’s fortunes have not improved much in their relegation battle since Eddie Howe’s appointment as head coach, and an admittedly tough recent run of games has seen the Magpies beaten 4-0 by Man City, 3-1 by Liverpool and 4-0 by Leicester. Their last win came on 4 December as they edged past Burnley 1-0, and even a victory here would not haul 19th-placed Newcastle out of the relegation zone. As our own Tony Evans writes, the club must cut through their own barriers on and off the pitch as a kinder run of fixtures approaches after tonight.
Follow all the fallout from Newcastle vs Manchester United below.
Edinson Cavani rescues draw for Manchester United against valiant Newcastle
Newcastle give Ralf Rangnick’s Manchester United a lesson in pressing as Joelinton dazzles in draw
Gary Neville criticises Manchester United ‘whinge-bags’ after poor first half at Newcastle
Victor Lindelof misses Manchester United’s Newcastle trip after testing positive for Covid
Newcastle vs Manchester United: Ralf Rangnick claims scrapping Premier League festive fixtures would be like ‘abolishing the Queen’
Manchester United’s interim manager Ralf Rangnick says scrapping the Premier League’s festive matches would be like “abolishing the Queen”.
There has been some criticism of the busy schedule over the Christmas period with injuries and Covid cases making team selection difficult for clubs. England’s top-flight has long been the only European league to continue through the winter without a break.
Rangnick claims scrapping festive fixtures would be like ‘abolishing the Queen’
United are due to take to the field again on Monday against Newcastle
Newcastle vs Manchester United
Newcastle have lost 21 Premier League games in 2021, a joint-league high alongside Southampton prior to Boxing Day. Another loss would equal the club top-flight record in a calendar year.
Newcastle vs Manchester United
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored seven Premier League goals against Newcastle, all coming in his last four league appearances against them.
Newcastle vs Manchester United
Manchester United are the only club not to have scored in the opening 15 minutes of a Premier League match this season and the Red Devils have not scored a set-piece goal (excluding penalties) since 18th April.
Newcastle vs Manchester United
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe spoke about his counterpart this evening and called Ralf Rangnick a ‘pioneer of the game’. Howe said:
I know he’s had a huge influence on some Premier League managers who are currently active and successful in the league, and he’s one of the culture change managers, really, who has brought in a lot of new ideas that a lot of people have followed," he said.
"He’s a definite pioneer of the game. He’s someone I’ve had a couple of conversations with over the years, and someone I highly respect and admire.
"I think with anyone who has his reputation in the game and some of the things that he’s achieved at different clubs, it shows that his methodology works wherever he goes, so I’ve got no doubt he will make very instant changes to Manchester United.
"He’ll bring in his own way of playing – I’ve already seen that in the two games they’ve had – and they’ve started to mirror him and his personality, so we expect a very tough game. I’ve got a lot of respect for Ralf and his work."
Newcastle vs Manchester United
Newcastle have let in 41 goals this season, their most after 18 games since 1960 when they went on to be relegated from the top flight.
They have dropped a league-high 17 points from winning positions this season and have lost all 10 Premier League matches this campaign against teams in the top half of the table, in contrast to eight games unbeaten versus clubs in the bottom half.
Newcastle vs Manchester United: Lindelof tests positive for Covid-19
Ralf Rangnick spoke to Sky Sports before kick off to explain his team selection for tonight’s match against Newcastle. The Manchester United boss confirmed that Victor Lindelof misses out due to testing positive for coronavirus and Mason Greenwood starts up top. He said:
We resumed for training last Tuesday and on Thursday had almost the whole team apart from Paul Pogba in training. Unfortunately, Victor Lindelof tested positive with Covid yesterday so he cannot play. But Raphael Varane is available again and is in the starting line-up. In the last three or four days we had some good training sessions.
“He [Mason Greenwood] is definitely playing up front, but in what position you will see. He deserves to play. He did extremely well in the last two or three weeks in training and when he came on against Young Boys.
“It was about decision making against Norwich. In some parts of the game we did not take the right decisions and I did not like the body language in some parts. This was a topic in preparation for this game, an away game in front of 65,000. We need to take the next step and be aggressive and prepared for a difficulty, intense game.
“We had two clean sheets in the last two games and so no need for me to change anything I do not have to. It is about taking steps and development. With our team, we are always able to score goals so it is about having a clean sheet and playing defensively with all the players. It starts up front with the strikers.”
Newcastle vs Manchester United: Clubs will think twice before signing unvaccinated players
Manchester United boss Ralf Rangnick has echoed Jurgen Klopp’s concern over signing players not vaccinated against coronavirus.
Liverpool manager Klopp has been outspoken, insisting players should get jabbed amid the rise of Premier League coronavirus cases caused by the Omicron variant.
Klopp has said he would think twice about signing unvaccinated players and fellow German Rangnick has now reiterated those worries and its potential impact on any United dealings during the January transfer window.
Ralf Rangnick: Clubs will think twice before signing unvaccinated players
United are set to return to action at Newcastle on Monday after an enforced 16-day break
Newcastle vs Manchester United
In the build up to this game Eddie Howe spoke how he admired Newcastle’s unforgettable victories over Man Utd under the Kevin Keegan and Sir Bobby Robson back in the 1990s and early 2000s.
But, he admits it will take some time for the Magpies to "transition" into a similarly exciting team. Howe said:
There’s a lot of memories that spring to mind of those games – Newcastle tended, at that period of time, to have memorable games against most teams, to be honest. I think there are stand-out moments you think back to, and I can picture some of the goals and the scenes in my mind.
“It’s up to us to try and recreate those times – the attacking verve, the swagger that that team had, the flair the individual players possessed, but then the team took that identity over and it’s certainly something we’re desperate to do.
“But we’re going to need a little bit of time to see that in full creation. At the moment, we’re still progressing, and we have to obviously get the defensive side of our game right before we transition into the team we all want to be.”
Newcastle vs Manchester United
Manchester United have won 1-0 in their two league games so far under manager Ralf Rangnick. He can become the first United boss to keep a clean sheet in his opening three league fixtures.
United are one short of becoming the first club to record 300 Premier League away victories.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments