Man Utd 3-2 Newcastle: Disastrous night dents European hopes ahead of final day

Newcastle's hunt for European football will go to the wire after a hugely frustrating evening at Old Trafford ended in a loss.

Goals from Kobbie Mainoo and Amad Diallo either side of a strike from Anthony Gordon gave a cushion to Man U. Rasmus Hojlund looked to have put the game beyond doubt before Lewis Hall gave some late hope to the Toon with another great strike.

It was a painful watch yet a game we could've easily won on another night. We defended so poorly for all three of their goals, missed countless big chances, hit the woodwork several times, struggled with our final ball and were denied a blatant first half penalty. It was the perfect storm and so, so frustrating to lose like that to such a poor Man Utd side who'd won one of their last eight heading into this. However, this has been the story of our season on the road, sadly.

With Chelsea winning 2-1 at Brighton on a damaging night for Eddie Howe's Mags, the Toon must now win their last game of the season at Brentford to qualify for Europe next season. Sixth is now out of our hands and we'll only qualify for the Europa Conference League in 7th if we match or better Man Utd's results on the final day AND see Man City win the FA Cup.

We've been on a good run over the past few months in typically tough circumstances, but Europa League football was in our hands and it feels like we've just thrown it away, barring a big swing on the final day.

Eddie Howe made one change to the team that was held by Brighton, with an injured Tino Livramento replaced by Kieran Trippier, meaning Nick Pope, Joelinton and Miguel Almiron remained on a bench featuring the fit-again Fabian Schar.

The game had a tensity to it that was to be expected of an end-of-season clash with something to play for. But for the majority of the opening periods Newcastle could not find the right pass to unlock the Man U defence and the Red Devils were able to counter with a proficiency that was missing from our game.

After 30 minutes the ball found its way to ex-Mackem Amad Diallo whose ball was flicked on by Bruno Fernandes and poor positioning from our back four, Trippier in particular, gave Mainoo acres of space. The teenager looked shocked to have the ball in the box with so much space and slotted it past Martin Dubravka.

We responded with a handful of chances and were denied a goal by millimetres when Casemiro hooked Dan Burn's header off the line. Before that, VAR ignored a blatant penalty after Sofyan Amrabat raked down Anthony Gordon's Achilles. It's no wonder clubs want to abolish VAR if they can't see that was a foul!

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The second half started much brighter for Howe's Mags, as we have come to be accustomed with in recent weeks. It didn't take long for the game to be back on level pegging after Alexander Isak got on the end of a loose ball and fed Jacob Murphy on the right. Murphy's ball to Gordon was brilliant and our number 10 prodded it home.

We continued to push and looked more composed, but as with the first half, missed chances and a moment of poor defending looked to have cost us.

A Man U corner found its way to Amad on the edge of the box and the former Sunderland man rifled it past Dubravka giving the advantage back to the reds. And this allowed them to come into the game more as we retreated from being on the front foot.

Howe looked to the bench, bringing on Joelinton, Miggy Almiron and Fabian Schar to try and tighten up the middle of the pitch.

Joelinton fashioned two wonderful chances midway through the half, picking out Sean Longstaff who really should have scored as his hug one-vs-one opportunity was hit straight at Onana. Moments later the big Brazilian went agonisingly close himself, forcing a fine save with a powerful header.

In the 73rd minute we went close again as Gordon jinked down the left and left Casemiro in the dust. His strike fizzed wide while Almiron flung himself into the net trying to get any kind of contact on the ball. Painfully close but no cigar, once again.

It felt like a game that Newcastle had the chances to win. But as we have seen so many times this season, individual mistakes are so costly at this level and we saw so many of them at both ends tonight,

We moved to a 4-4-2 in the final 15 minutes as Harvey Barnes came on for Longstaff and Gordon moved up top with Isak. But again our chances lacked bite and we did not make any of them pay.

It left us vulnerable to the counter and Fernandes found substitute Hojlund whose strike went under Dubravka's arms into the far corner to make it 3-1.

It seemed to be fizzling out to a frustrating result, but in stoppage time Lewis Hall picked up the ball on the edge of the box and hit a brilliant strike into the far corner. It was even better than his last goal at Old Trafford. But it meant nothing ultimately as the game petered out without us creating another chance.

With Chelsea winning, it means Newcastle need to win against Brentford on Sunday and hope that City win the FA Cup to secure Conference League football next season. Absolutely gutted. Let's hope things go our way this weekend.

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