Man United bid farewell to Old Trafford in the 2023-2024 season with a 3-2 victory over Newcastle.

Newcastle brought a difficult match to Man United right at Old Trafford. Photo: MUFC

Manchester United took on Newcastle in the make-up match of round 34 of the Premier League at dawn on May 16 (Vietnam time) at a time when hopes of winning tickets to the European Cup next season were very slim. With 8th place on the rankings, they have no autonomy in this race.

This is Man United’s last home match this season, although coach Erik ten Hag and his team should have said goodbye to their fans on Sunday, when they lost 0-0 to Arsenal. first.

Newcastle confidently marched to the “Theater of Dreams” when they had 3 consecutive wins against Man United without conceding a goal. Coach Eddie Howe and his team are also looking for a ticket to the Conference League play-off round like Man United and Chelsea.

When the list of absent players of the two teams is equally long, the match is decided by which side takes advantage of the opportunity better.

As a guest, Newcastle was the team that controlled the ball better (56%), and launched more shots (21). Meanwhile, the home team’s index is 17 shots with 44% possession.

Somewhere there was balance when the two teams put the ball on target 8 times, goalkeepers Andre Onana and Martin Dubravka had 6 and 5 saves respectively.

Man United had to fight harder, with 16 fouls (Newcastle 7), but the yellow card score was still 3-3.

Newcastle dominated in the first 10 minutes of the match but almost conceded the first goal after Casemiro’s decisive kick sent the ball over the bar. The Brazilian player continues to be placed at center back with Jonny Evans in this match.

That phase seemed to revive the “Red Devils”, as they had more chances from Amad Diallo and Alejandro Garnacho before taking the lead after half an hour of play.

Kobbie Mainoo and Amad Diallo helped Man United advance twice. Photo: MUFC

Amad’s pass into the penalty area was delicately handled by Bruno Fernandes – who was playing as a striker this match, finding Kobbie Mainoo and the teenage Man United player finished scoring the opening goal.

Howe’s players responded almost immediately and were just millimeters away from scoring, when Dan Burn’s header was cleared by Casemiro on the line.

Away fans were angry when referee Robert Jones refused to give Newcastle a penalty after Sofyan Amrabat stopped Anthony Gordon in the penalty area.

However, the English winger did not have to wait too long for a goal. Just 4 minutes into the second half, he equalized the score after a pass from Jacob Murphy.

Carelessness crept into the home team’s position when Aaron Wan-Bissaka lost the ball, leading to a 3v1 counter-attack for Newcastle. Amrabat was the hero in this situation, blocking Alexander Isak’s shot and causing the ball to go over the bar.

It was important because immediately afterwards, Man United took the lead for the second time. In the 57th minute, Amad took the opportunity to score his first goal in the Premier League.

Rasmus Hojlund scored just 2 minutes after entering the field. Photo: MUFC

Newcastle continued to attack strongly, with Sean Longstaff unable to beat Onana, while Joelinton hit the crossbar with a header, and Gordon fired wide of the post.

Being too busy attacking made the away team pay the price in the 64th minute, when Rasmus Hojlund scored the third goal for Man United just 2 minutes after entering the field.

Lewis Hall shortened the score to 2-3 entering the second minute of stoppage time, making the rest of the 9 minutes of stoppage time nervous for Man United. However, the 3-2 score remains the same, Man United has 3 points and caught up with Newcastle in points (57).

However, the chance to win tickets to the European Cup through the Premier League is almost gone because Chelsea beat Brighton 2-1 to get 60 points.

Man United will have to win at Brighton in the final round with a very large score, while waiting for Chelsea to lose at home to Bournemouth and Newcastle not have 3 points at Brentford in the final round this Sunday.