An unbelievable result for Newcastle and even better performance, where we dominated Man Utd from start to finish in a well-deserved 2-0 win. In my opinion, this was our best performance of the season, with every player playing superbly to hand our top-four hopes another huge boost.
Here come the ratings from a fantastic Sunday afternoon at St. James Park.
Nick Pope – 7 – Only made one save all afternoon in a pretty quiet showing. Was a little bit shaky with the ball at his feet, but went on to keep his 13th clean sheets of the season. A steady showing from the big man.
Kieran Trippier – 9 – Unbelievable performance from the captain. Superb assist for Wilson’s header, created chances all afternoon and dominated the right hand side of the pitch. A brilliant performance from the England man who is back to his best now. Kept Rashford quiet throughout the game and showed real tenacity throughout. Seven accurate crosses, four key passes and five tackles sums up a fantastic performance.
Fabian Schar – 8 – Another rock solid performance from the Swiss centre-back. Excellent on the ball and timing in the challenge. Went close from range in the second half, read the play well and soldiered on after a couple of knocks to the head.
Sven Botman – 8.5 – One of his best performances of the season after recovering from food poisoning last week. His positional play was fantastic – he made one vital interception to block Sabitzer’s cross at 0-0 – he dominated the anonymous Weghorst and won the ball back in the build-up to Willock’s opener.
Dan Burn – 8 – Antony has given him massive issues in the past but Burn was superb today. Made a brilliant sliding tackle on Rashford in the first half and celebrated it like a goal. Made six tackles and won six duels in a really solid showing. Extra mark for his unreal post match interview – “We’ve disliked Manchester United for a while now…”.
Bruno Guimaraes – 9 – Wonderful display from the Brazilian. Looked back to his best and really well rested after two weeks off with no Brazil call up. Bossed the midfield battle against McTominay and Sabitzer, winning nine duels and making four tackles. Seemed to be absolutely everywhere all afternoon. Beautiful clip to the back post for Saint-Maximin’s cut back header to Willock. Was majestic in the final half an hour, creating chance after chance for his team-mates. A classy display at both ends.
Joe Willock – 9* – A stunning display from the energetic midfielder. Missed a couple of sitters and could’ve had a hat-trick on another day, but showed lovely movement for his goal, caused havoc with his ability to carry the ball at pace, was great in the press and he constantly got into pockets of space. Another mature performance from Willock who will surely be knocking on Gareth Southgate’s England squad. Just shades the man of the match award.
Sean Longstaff – 8 – A really strong display from the Geordie midfielder. Made some great runs into the box, giving himself a couple of openings in the first half, and lashed a beautiful long range strike narrowly wide moments later. Eight duels won, three tackles, some confident passes into space and covered so much ground.
Jacob Murphy – 7.5 – Excellent in the first half with beautiful interplay with Trippier and Longstaff. Crossed the ball beautifully, creating one big chance for Isak early on, but faded a little in the second 45. I was impressed by his movement and positivity on the ball, giving us a lively outlet in Almiron’s absence. Stringing together a fantastic run of form at the moment.
Allan Saint-Maximin – 8.5 – Gave Dalot absolute hell all afternoon, running at Man Utd’s defence at pace AND picking out some incisive passes. Created three big chances in the first half and did brilliantly for our opener to head across goal for Willock. Made six key passes and looked a real danger every time he got the ball.
Alexander Isak – 8 – Another superb performance from the Swedish striker, who demonstrated his ability to link up and create with a lovely ball in behind for Bruno to help set up our opening goal. Some classy touches, brilliant pressing and a few great efforts that were well blocked. Looks a top, top player.
Substitutes:
Anthony Gordon – 7 – Looked a real threat off the bench. Won tackles, made some darting runs in behind and never looked afraid to get at their defence.
Callum Wilson – 7 – Excellent ten minutes from Wilson who took his header beautifully, ghosting in between the two Manchester United centre backs.
Joelinton – 7 – Brought on to support Burn on our left hand side. Had a point-blank header tipped onto the bar by De Gea and helped add fight and physicality to our side.
Elliot Anderson – N/A – Only played five minutes but looked sharp.
