- Dubravka shines in debut
- Ritchie scores off set piece
- Mourinho winless at St. James’ Park
Matt Ritchie’s second half goal led Newcastle United to a 1-0 win over Manchester United on Sunday at St. James’ Park to ensure their stay in the Premier League’s drop zone was a shade over two hours.
Goalkeeper Martin Dubravka made a number of huge saves as Alexis Sanchez and Anthony Martial were continually flummoxed by the hosts.
The win boosts Newcastle into 13th place with 28 points, while Manchester United remains second with 56.
Paul Pogba was pulled in the 66th minute after losing his mark on Newcastle’s goal.
[ MORE: Watch full PL match replays ]
Chris Smalling gave away a free kick on the edge of the 18 with a handball, and Kenedy stared down David De Gea before letting Gayle blast one into the wall. De Gea stopped Jonjo Shelvey on the rebound before DeAndre Yedlin ended the chance by shooting over the goal.
A Manchester United giveaway allowed Diame to cue up Ayoze Perez for a half-chance that zipped wide of the goal.
The Red Devils settled into possession but couldn’t find the target, with Newcastle backstop Martin Dubravka making a few handy plays on debut. At the other end, Kenedy his a hard shot right at De Gea.
Moments after Dwight Gayle held up a potentially strong Newcastle break, Anthony Martial nearly made them pay but for a Dubravka save.
Lukaku crossed for Martial, who got in front of Paul Dummett but drove his header wide.
Chris Smalling chopped down Gayle at the corner of the 18, but no penalty call came for the English striker.
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41' - The replays are not kind to the match officials. That was a stonewall penalty as Gayle gets a touch to the ball and is clearly tripped. 0-0. #NUFC
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) February 11, 2018
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The second half saw Matt Ritchie’s penalty shout denied by the offside flag, and United started to assert control soon after through a Lukaku goal pulled back for a foul and an Alexis Sanchez penalty shout that ended with his shooting into the side netting.
Sanchez then flubbed a chance to make it 1-0 with an extra touch after dancing past Dubravka. The superfluous move allowed Florian Lejeune to slide in front of him and block the shot.
Newcastle won a free kick when Smalling dove inside his own half, and Shelvey’s free kick was headed into Ritchie’s path by
Jose Mourinho pulled Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard for Michael Carrick and Juan Mata after the goal, and the Red Devils were back at it. Dubravka stopped an Ashley Young rip in the 68th minute.
Newcastle showed steel as the Red Devils kept attacking, with Martial seeing two shots from the top of the six blocked by Gayle and Yedlin.
43 - Matt Ritchie's goal ended a run of 43 shots without scoring in the @premierleague this season; the longest current run in the division. Quenched. pic.twitter.com/YyewTFZb0g
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 11, 2018