Newcastle United's dominating performance against Manchester United was worthy of a much more impressive scoreline than 1-0.
Every player yet again put in the perfect shift right up until the final third when bad luck, poor judgment, and the limbs of Harry Magure and Luke Shaw kept the score down; even Andre Onana made a good save, that's how charmed their goal was.
In our player ratings we handed out a lot of nines and debated over several possibilities of Player of the Match, eventually opting for Joelinton who had alleged Newcastle target Scott McTominay on toast all night.
Garth Crooks has selected his Team of the Week for the BBC and while he did pick two Newcastle players, Joelinton was not one of them.
Instead, the former Tottenham forward opted for Fabian Schar and Anthony Gordon, both of whom were in the mix for our Player of the Match as well.
Crooks said of Fabian Schar:
"Watching Schar drive at the Manchester United defence with the ball at his feet was almost a throwback to the days of Philippe Albert during the Kevin Keegan era. The ensuing free-kick by Kieran Trippier left Andre Onana in the United goal rooted to the spot, only to be saved by the underside of the bar. Schar's contribution to Newcastle's victory cannot be underestimated. The Swiss international was outstanding and never gave Anthony Martial a kick. It was Schar who blocked the shot destined for the back of the net and resulted in Nick Pope dislocating his shoulder. Was he lucky not to get booked for the tackle on Bruno Fernandes? Probably, but referees are allowed to use their discretion in a contact sport."
While he justified the inclusion of goal-scoring hero Anthony Gordon by saying:
"Gordon has now scored in four Premier League home games, and the way he is playing I've no doubt there are more to come. His performances for Newcastle recently beg the question, why hasn't he been considered for England? The difference between Gordon and Marcus Rashford on Saturday night was like chalk and cheese. One player was clearly enjoying his game and the other wasn't. I have been a huge admirer of Rashford, even when he was having a difficult time under Jose Mourinho, but his performance at St James' Park was concerning. It's time Rashford stopped sulking and produced the passion and desire a team like Manchester United deserve."
We also had Bruno Guimaraes, Kieran Trippier, Tino Livramento and Lewis Miley as potential star men for our ratings, and as such, believe they could all have been contenders for a spot in the Team of the Week, but I suppose he has to be seen to be giving other teams a chance, and there were some impressive results this weekend.
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Liverpool
|
14 | 18 | 35 |
2 |
Chelsea
|
15 | 17 | 31 |
3 |
Arsenal
|
15 | 14 | 29 |
4 |
Manchester City
|
15 | 6 | 27 |
5 |
Nottingham Forest
|
15 | 1 | 25 |
6 |
Aston Villa
|
15 | 0 | 25 |
7 |
Brighton
|
15 | 3 | 24 |
8 |
Bournemouth
|
15 | 3 | 24 |
9 |
Brentford
|
15 | 3 | 23 |
10 |
Fulham
|
15 | 2 | 23 |
11 |
Tottenham Hotspur
|
15 | 12 | 20 |
12 |
Newcastle United
|
15 | -2 | 20 |
13 |
Manchester United
|
15 | 1 | 19 |
14 |
West Ham United
|
15 | -8 | 18 |
15 |
Everton
|
14 | -7 | 14 |
16 |
Leicester
|
15 | -9 | 14 |
17 |
Crystal Palace
|
15 | -6 | 13 |
18 |
Ipswich
|
15 | -13 | 9 |
19 |
Wolves
|
15 | -15 | 9 |
20 |
Southampton
|
15 | -20 | 5 |