Newcastle United's bid to upset the Premier League apple cart may come to fruition sooner than anticipated as the Magpies continue their fine start to the season. Eddie Howe's side are now becoming a really tough team to beat both at home and on the road after adding another point to their tally with a spirited 0-0 draw against Manchester United.
Erik ten Hag's side put up a good fight at Old Trafford, almost snatching all three points for themselves with a late onslaught Newcastle did well to weather. The Tyneside outfit remain sixth in the Premier League, one place behind Sunday's opponents, with a busy schedule ahead of them before the World Cup break next month.
With only one defeat to their name in the league, Newcastle are now also the only Premier League side to have conceded less than 10 goals this season, with only nine scored against them thus far. Each of the clubs currently occupying the top four have conceded 10, while Brighton have shipped 11, Liverpool 12 and Manchester United 15.
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Fabian Schar and Sven Botman were at their very best in the 0-0 draw, cementing their status as Howe's go-to centre-back pairing going forward. Kieran Trippier played the leader role once more but Dan Burn encountered trouble on the opposite flank, regularly being outpaced and outthought by £86m man Antony.
The backline as a whole managed to keep Cristiano Ronaldo quiet throughout the afternoon before the veteran's withdrawal towards the end of the tie. Ronaldo thought he'd given Manchester United the lead on two occasions in the second-half only to see both strikes denied by the officials.
The 37-year-old was flagged for offside as he first put the ball beyond Nick Pope and then tried to claim Schar had restarted play from the resulting free-kick when really he had simply left the set piece for his goalkeeper to take charge of.
The Portuguese star has scored eight times against Newcastle over the years but may not get the chance to add to that tally in the future with his Red Devils career hanging firmly in the balance these days. However, Ronaldo's record of never losing a competitive game against the north east outfit in either the Premier League or the FA Cup continues as he stretched the run to 14.
Ronaldo's exit in the second-half coincided with Ten Hag's side gathering steam in the closing stages of the tie as Newcastle began to flag. A host of Toon players went down with cramp in the second-half and Manchester United looked like the fitter side after the interval, despite playing twice since Newcastle's last outing against Brentford on October 8.
The sight of players dropping to the floor at regular intervals did nothing to calm the travelling fans who hours earlier had heard about setbacks to Allan Saint-Maximin and Alexander Isak. The two Newcastle attackers are both looking at extended spells on the sidelines, with Howe confirming the duo may not be back in action until after the World Cup.
Speaking after the game, Howe admitted watching first-team injury concerns continue to mount at St James' Park is proving difficult. "We'd love to make more changes than we're able to at the moment due to being stretched as a squad," he told reporters.
"The problem is when the injured players don't come back on the timescales they're scheduled. We're going to get fresh injuries, it's part of the game. So then the situation looks pretty difficult. Touch wood we can keep the majority of our players through this busy period and then get some strength back soon."
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