10-man Newcastle United see off Manchester United thanks to stunning goal from Will Osula
Where has this Newcastle United team been all season? What a performance that was from the Magpies as they defied all the odds to take three points against Manchester United at St James' Park.
We thought our chance had gone when the referee, Peter Bankes lost the plot at the end of the first half and turned the game on its head.
Newcastle had been the better team throughout the first half, but struggled, as usual, to convert chances into goals.
Then, right on the stroke of half-time, Jacob Ramsey went to ground in the box under a challenge from the Man United goalkeeper. There was only minimal contact, if any, but Ramsey lost his balance and went to ground. Peter Bankes decided that it was simulation, despite Ramsey making no gesture to claim for a penalty, and handed the midfielder his second yellow card and sent him down the tunnel early. It was a shocking decision that could have ruined the entire night.
Peter Bankes tried his best to spoil a fantastic night of football
A couple of minutes later, Anthony Gordon broke into the box and was felled by Bruno Fernandes, and Bankes wasted no time pointing to the spot. Gordon stepped up and powered the spot-kick home to give the home side a deserved lead.
Unfortunately, Peter Bankes' watch batteries stopped working and deep beyond the signalled stoppage time allowance, Manchester United were awarded a free kick deep in Newcastle's half, which was delivered brilliantly by Fernandes and nodded home by Casemiro, NINE minutes into three minutes of added time.
When the half-time whistle blew after 55 minutes, it felt like everything was stacked against us after those decisions by the referee, but Newcastle started the second period like the side with the one-man advantage.
Will Osula scored one of Newcastle's best goals of the season to bring home the points
Man United grew into the game and started to put some real pressure on, and if it weren't for a couple of top-class saves from Aaron Ramsdale, they could have snatched the win.
Fortunately, Rambo was in no mood to be beaten again, and substitute Will Osula, whose introduction caused many a confused text message to be sent around amongst fans wondering what was wrong with Yoane Wissa, provided a moment of sheer magic to make it four home wins against Man United in a row.
Kieran Trippier played a ball down the right flank, which Osula just managed to keep in play before cutting inside, wrong-footing Harry Maguire and then curling a superb shot beyond Senne Lammens right on 90 minutes.
Peter Bankes didn't get a new watch battery installed at half-time as he played another eight minutes of stoppage time despite signalling for five, but this time it didn't matter.
What a game. What a goal. What a night.
