Wayne Rooney finally had the ball in the net but a marginal offside decision cost him and Manchester United a goal on a frustrating afternoon.
Whereas United had managed to scrape through 1-0 in their previous Barclays Premier League matches this season, this was the day when Louis van Gaal’s men could not gloss over their attacking flaws against a Newcastle United side who fought hard for a point.
With Bastian Schweinsteiger making his first start, the game began well for the home team but - like the German midfielder - that promise fizzled out and they were condemned to a match that was full of toil but lacking in end product. On the few occasions that Van Gaal’s team did manage to cut through, they either lost their scoring instinct or found Tim Krul in fine form in the Newcastle goal. Chris Smalling hitting the post in injury time was the final frustration during a late siege on the visiting team’s goal.
Despite dropping two points, van Gaal maintained that his side put in a “fantastic” performance against opponents who have won just one of their last 14 Premier League matches.
Van Gaal suggested that his team, who have scored just two goals in their first three games, had been “unlucky” not to win and had put in one of the best performances of his Old Trafford reign.
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“We can be satisfied with the performance, but not with the result. we were unlucky,” he said.
“We did not make the right choices in the final third, but we played fantastic as a team. I like these kind of games when we work like this, but not this result.
“The performance was one of the best in my period, but we don’t reward ourselves. There was only one club that wanted to win and that was us.”
United’s attack had functioned fluently in the opening stages, with the only disappointment being the lack of a breakthrough. Rooney struck, in the fourth minute, only to suffer the frustration of having the effort ruled out for that marginal offside call. The striker had shown fine composure to finish just inside the 18-yard box from Juan Mata’s through ball. Mata himself then came close when he turned and shot from eight yards, but Krul dived low to his left and pushed the ball away.
Steve McClaren, the visiting team’s head coach, had begun the game watching from the directors’ box but soon appeared in his technical area to bellow instructions, as his men struggled to contain the home side. Promptly, Newcastle almost snatched the lead against the run of play as Aleksandar Mitrovic, making his first start, sent a powerful header against the bar from 14 yards, following a curling cross from the right flank by Chancel Mbemba.
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There was a worry for United when Schweinsteiger started limping, after a robust challenge from Gabriel Obertan, but he battled on, while Newcastle started to grow in confidence. Ayoze Pérez dragged a shot just wide, shortly before there interval, to highlight the potential threat to Van Gaal’s players, as they lost their spark in the closing stages of the opening half.
The second half began in patient fashion for United, but their passing moves were lacking a clinical edge, and Newcastle looked comfortable. Apart from Memphis Depay striking a free-kick into the wall, the home team were offering little as an attacking force as the hour-mark approached and Van Gaal chose to replace Schweinsteiger - who was fading out of the game - with Michael Carrick. Newcastle, meanwhile, introduced Florin Thauvin for his debut, coming on for Obertan.
Rooney was cursing in frustration again when he controlled a Mata pass brilliantly but had his volleyed attempt blocked by Steven Taylor. The England striker then returned the favour, teeing up Mata, but the Spaniard blasted his shot well over using his weaker right foot. United had upped the tempo, with Luke Shaw and Javier Hernandez, the substitute, both having shots saved by the alert Krul, but the killer instinct was still absent in the final third.
There was late drama as Smalling directed his header against the woodwork, but it was not to be for United, and it could have been worse when Newcastle counter-attacked and Thauvin narrowly failed to connect with a Papiss Cisse.
The Dutchman’s project very much remains a work in progress.