Willock and Wilson help Newcastle leapfrog Man Utd

The wasteful hosts had enough to see off Eric ten Hag's side.

Sun, 02 Apr, 2023 - 18:33

Jason Mellor

Newcastle 2

Manchester United 0

HE should have left St James' Park clutching the match ball but in mitigation, the one Joe Willock did get proved to be rather important.

Newcastle took their latest significant step towards securing Champions League football next season - and a modicum of revenge for their Carabao Cup final defeat in February - with a fully deserved victory, one which they made overly hard work of due to a day largely to forget in front of goal.

Willock was the chief culprit, missing two glorious first-half chances to reward his side's dominance. Undeterred, the midfielder made sure he didn't waste a hat-trick of chances by breaking the deadlock midway through the second-half.

Erik ten Hag's side barely looked capable of hauling back a single-goal deficit, so it was game over when Callum Wilson, with virtually his first touch after coming on as a late substitute, gave the scoreline a more realistic look by glancing home the second from Kieran Trippier's delivery two minutes from time.

Willock should have been two-thirds towards claiming his spherical memento by the interval, but started a profligate afternoon in front of goal by firing straight at a prone David de Gea from five yards after the Spaniard had clawed out Alexander Isak's powerful near post header early on.

Worse followed shortly before half-time when at the culmination of a breathless 75-yard counter-attack, Willock fired wildly into the Leazes End when meeting an inviting Allan Saint-Maximin square pass 12 yards from goal.

That was all quickly forgiven and forgotten 20 minutes into the second-half. Isak released Bruno Guimaraes into the visitors' area for the Brazilian to stand-up an inviting cross to the far post where Saint-Maximin headed the ball back across goal for WIllock to break the deadlock with a diving header. Less than a yard from goal, even he couldn't fail to end a fourth-and-a-half month wait to find the net with a third of the season.

The near incessant pressure continued as De Gea brilliantly pushed a Jolinton header onto the bar at a chaotic corner, with Anthony Martial clearing Fabian Schar's close-range follow-up off the line with the help of an upright. Wilson's deft finish shortly afterwards ensured there was no way back.

Newcastle (4-3-3): Pope 8; Tripper 8, Schar 8, Botman 8, Burn 8; Longstaff 7, Guimaraes 8, Willock 8 (Anderson 84, 6); Murphy 6 (Gordon 68, 5), Isak 7 (Wilson 80, 6), Saint-Maximin 7 (Joelinton 68, 6).

Booked: None

Manchester United (4-2-3-1): de Gea 7; Dalot 5, Varane 5 (Lindelof 83, 5), Martinez 5 (Pellistri 83, 5), Shaw 5; Sabitzer 6, McTominay 6 (Fred 83, 5); Antony 4 (Sancho 62, 5), Fernandes 5, Rashford 5; Weghorst 3 (Martial 62, 6).

Booked: None

Referee: S Attwell