Fernandes sparks late Man Utd flurry at Newcastle

Bruno Fernandes made amends for a missed penalty with a spectacular late strike that inspired Manchester United to a 4-1 victory at Newcastle.

A stunning save from goalkeeper Karl Darlow saw Fernandes miss his first penalty in Manchester United colours at the 11th attempt, as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side looked destined for a draw after Harry Maguire’s header had cancelled out Luke Shaw’s second-minute own goal.

But a dominant Manchester United claimed a deserved and emphatic victory when Fernandes rifled into the top corner with five minutes remaining, Aaron Wan-Bissaka claimed his first senior goal and Marcus Rashford’s stoppage-time fourth claimed three points at St. James’ Park.

Manchester United climb to 14th in the Premier League on six points after their second victory of the season, a point and three places behind Newcastle in 11th.

How Man Utd roared back in style

Solskjaer demanded a response from Manchester United in their first outing since the 6-1 thrashing at the hands of Tottenham. What he got was a nightmare start, as Shaw deflected Emil Krafth’s cross past the wrong-footed David de Gea to hand Newcastle the lead inside two minutes.

Manchester United regrouped well after registering their fifth Premier League own goal against Newcastle, and the visitors looked to have restored parity on 19 minutes when Fernandes picked out the top corner following a neat exchange with Juan Mata.

A routine VAR review found Mata had strayed into an offside position in the build-up and the equaliser was chalked off, but Manchester United didn’t have to wait much longer to draw themselves level.

Mata was the architect again, this time picking out Maguire from a corner as the Manchester United captain hauled his side level and drew a line under a challenging week with a towering header into the bottom corner.

Allan Saint-Maximin drew De Gea into action with a near-post drive, and the Spaniard produced an even better stop early in the second half to deny Callum Wilson, clawing the forward’s effort off the line as he tried to turn Saint-Maximin’s cross home on the stretch.

VAR denied Manchester United an equaliser in the first period, but the technology handed them a chance to take the lead for the first time on 58 minutes, as Jamal Lewis was penalised for a challenge on Rashford after referee Craig Pawson consulted the pitchside monitor.

Up stepped Fernandes but, after an orthodox run-up, his firmly-hit spot-kick was brilliantly palmed away by Darlow.

Maguire had a header cleared off the line by Jonjo Shelvey from the resulting corner. With the exception of a Shelvey 20-yard drive, all that stood between the dominant visitors and the lead with the inspired Darlow, who produced a string of saves.

It looked only a matter of time before United made the breakthrough, and the pressure eventually told in a final five-minute flurry.

Fernandes rattled a stunning effort in off the post after linking up with Rashford in the final third, Wan-Bissaka rifled an emphatic drive home at the near post and Rashford wrapped things up with a fourth on the counter in stoppage-time.

Opta stats – Man Utd bounce back

• Manchester United enjoyed their 10th comeback win against Newcastle in the Premier League, the most by any side against a single opponent in the competition.
• Manchester United have been awarded 17 penalties in the Premier League since the start of last season, five more than any other side in the competition (12 scored).
• Bruno Fernandes missed his first penalty for Man Utd in what was his 11th since his debut on February 1st 2020 (10 scored, 1 missed) with those 11 six more than any other Premier League player has taken in that time.
• Aaron Wan-Bissaka became the 116th different player to score for Manchester United in the Premier League in what is his 38th league appearance for the club.
• Marcus Rashford registered three goal involvements in a single Premier League game for the only the third time ever (1 goal, 2 assists), also doing so against Fulham in December 2018 and Arsenal in February 2016.

What’s next?

Newcastle travel to Wolves at 4.30pm on Super Sunday – live on Sky Sports Premier League.

Manchester United head to Paris Saint-Germain for their first Champions League group stage game on Tuesday at 8pm, before hosting Chelsea at 5.30pm on Saturday Night Football – live on Sky Sports Premier League.

read the full story about Fernandes sparks late Man Utd flurry at Newcastle

#theheadlines #breakingnews #headlinenews #newstoday #latestnews #aajtak #ndtv #timesofindia #indiannews