Barnes grabs brace as United overpowered by Newcastle
Newcastle United's Harvey Barnes (second left) scores his second and his side's third goal.
RUBEN Amorim arrived at Old Trafford hoping to rewrite Manchester United's history books, but not like this.
To his credit, the beleaguered Portuguese refused to make excuses after his side confirmed its unwanted status as statistically the club's worst in the Premier League era.
They languish in 14th after a 14th defeat of the campaign sealed by a collapse where they conceded three second-half goals to ensure their return of 38 points from 32 games makes it impossible to overhaul the current low of 58 achieved in 2022.
Amorim defended making five changes to his starting line-up ahead of the Europa League return with Lyon after a pallid performance described as 'physically and mentally weak' by former United skipper and Sky pundit Roy Keane.
Joshua Zirkzee is a doubt for the quarter-final second-leg at home to the French side which is evenly balanced at 2-2 after the Dutch international forward came off in the second-half with a hamstring injury.
Turkish goalkeeper Altay Bayindir, who replaced Andre Onana, did a passable impression of the axed number one when he was at fault for Newcastle's final goal as the Magpies scored four against United for the first time in approaching 24 years to seal a first league double against the Old Trafford club for almost a century.
Amorim wouldn't confirm whether the Cameroon international will return on Thursday, and when asked if he regretted making so many changes, he said: "No, nothing. We made mistakes and even with a different 11 we don't know what the final result would have been. We had to make choices because we played three days ago.
"You guys have to wait (on Onana). We're going to start the next week tomorrow when I will choose the best starting 11 for the next game which is massive for us, we need to play better to win it.
"It (the points tally) is the reflection of our season and we need to accept that, move forward and do things better in the future to not have this kind of season."
United remain with just a single victory against a team from outside the Premier League's bottom three in the last four months.
Amorim, the 40-year-old who took charge in November, added: "When we conceded the second goal at the beginning of the second half, we were done. Our mistakes helped Newcastle to win the game and we know we need to improve in a lot of areas."
The only high point came with Alejandro Garnacho's first-half equaliser against the run of play as Newcastle were caught out on the break, but otherwise it was a memorable afternoon for the hosts who moved a step closer to sealing a return to the Champions League.
Italian midfielder Sandro Tonali volleyed them ahead from close range midway through the first-half, before Harvey Barnes took centre stage after the break, restoring the lead from close range then pouncing on an error from Noussair Mazraoui to burst through and fire home his side's third.
Bruno Guimaraes profited from Bayindir's late howler to seal a fully deserved victory.
Assistant boss Jason Tindall dedicated the result to Eddie Howe, the Newcastle manager who was hospitalised due to illness on Friday.
The 47-year-old was able to watch the game from his hospital bed, and messaged his close friend Tindall afterwards to congratulate the team on an emphatic win.
Howe is unlikely to return to the dugout in time for Wednesday's visit by Crystal Palace, when Newcastle can go third if they avoid defeat. Tindall said: "It was a performance and result the manager would have been proud of.
"I had a message from him after the game congratulating the team on the performance. He was able to watch the match and I think that outcome would have put a smile on his face. I've not had the opportunity to speak to him properly and we'd not had any contact for a couple of days.
"There's a lot of emotion, of course. I sent him a couple of messages today because he's hugely missed. It's only the second time in 17 years we've not been side by side. They are big shoes to fill because he's one of the best managers around and I'm sure he'll be proud of the lads."
Pope 8; Trippier 8 (Krafth 78, 6), Schar 8, Burn 8, Livramento 9; Tonali 9, Guimaraes 8 (Miley 85, 6), Joelinton 8 (Longstaff 85, 6); Murphy 8 (Gordon 78, 6), Isak 8 (Wilson 78, 6), Barnes 9.
Bayindir 4; Mazraoui 5, Lindelof 5, Yoro 4; Dalot 4, Ugarte 4, Fernandes 5 (Mainoo 82, 5), Amass 6 (Dorgu 55, 4); Garnacho 7 (Mount 55, 3), Eriksen 4; Zirkzee 5 (Hojlund 55, 4). Booked: Ugarte, Yoro.
Chris Kavanagh (Lancashire)
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