Osula Magic! 10-Man Newcastle End Man Utd’s Unbeaten Run
Newcastle United stun Manchester United with a dramatic 90th-minute winner from William Osula as the 10-man Magpies end their losing run in a thrilling Premier League clash.
Eddie Howe believes his Newcastle team are at their best when they cause havoc, and no one does that better than Will Osula.
The least that can be said about this unique Danish Under-21 striker is that he's unpredictable. No one, especially Osula himself, is ever sure what he'll do at any given moment. But here he was, coming off the substitutes' bench and scoring a stunning, superb goal in the 90th minute, reducing the home team to 10 men after Jacob Ramsey had been sent off for an alleged dive in the 45th minute.
Bukayo Saka celebrated the winning goal with his usual mischievous smile and pose – and Cristian Mosquera, too.
Although Bruno Fernandes played well in Michael Carrick's midfield, he couldn't save Ruben Amorim's interim successor from suffering his first Premier League defeat in charge of Manchester United, at the same ground where he used to cheer on Newcastle from the Gallowgate End as a child.
If this has put paid to any title talk at Old Trafford, Manchester United are in third place, 12 points ahead of Howe's 12th-placed team, who ended a damaging run of three consecutive home league defeats.
"I'm very disappointed," Carrick said. "We're not happy with the way we played. I'm sorry to say that Newcastle deserved the win. We can't make excuses. The quality wasn't good enough."
Howe didn't object. Newcastle's manager, who saw Osula struggle badly against Qarabag in the Champions League last week, said, "Will has provided a fantastic moment for the supporters here, hopefully this will be a turning point for them." "And it's a big moment for us. We showed we can compete against any team. With both 11 and 10 players, we deserved to win."
Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo, and Benjamin Cesco were three names that were high on Howe's shopping list last summer, but the trio appeared on Manchester United's teamsheet here. Remarkably, they all proved to be marginal players.
In fact, with Sandro Tonali at his best in Newcastle's central midfield and Lewis Hall propelling forward with ease from left-back, the visitors, who had taken 19 points from a possible 21 under Carrick's captaincy, started on the back foot.
Software Services
Nevertheless, Fernandes ensured that by the end of the first half, they had recovered, to the point where Aaron Ramsdale – who was considered superior to Nick Pope and had played an impact on the home goal – had to make good saves from Koby Manu and then Cunha.
However, Sene Lammens lost his last penalty conversion in first-half stoppage time to Anthony Gordon.
Gordon, who was Howe's first-choice center-forward these days, fell after a clever push to the back of his thigh from Fernandes' knee. The England winger, who had been well-handled by Harry Maguire until now, had the pleasure of hitting his kick straight down the middle.
The penalty was awarded after Ramsey was shown a second yellow card for simulation. "I thought it was very bad," Howe said. "Jacob didn't dive."
Newcastle's players have developed a bad habit of conceding goals immediately after taking the lead, and they did so again before Peter Banks called for half-time. And yes, in the ninth minute of extra time, Fernandes headed a free-kick into the net, and Casemiro's tame header proved too good for Ramsdale.
Read Also
Howe, who rightly believed the nine extra minutes were too many, responded by instructing his players to make the game more direct and force his visitors into playing long balls. Meanwhile, Fernandes' attempts to read Newcastle's defense were sometimes undermined by his needless irritation at Mbeumo and Cunha's inability to work on his wavelength.
Fernandes created almost all of the visiting team's best moments, and a Lenny Yoro header from his prompt prompted Ramsdale to make a brilliant save. This time Joshua Zirkzee made an even better save, after which Osula, replacing Gordon, scored his first goal since September.
Howe's wild card had barely stepped onto the pitch when he chased down a long ball in his own half, kept it in play, then cut inside, evaded Tyrell Malasia and sent a shot past Lammens.
His view was blocked by Maguire's frame, the goalkeeper saw it late, but the finish was of such a high caliber that it suddenly became possible to see why Eintracht Frankfurt had made a £30 million bid for Osula's raw talent last year.
Thank you for reading this content.
Thank you for reading this content.
What's Your Reaction?
Like
0
Dislike
0
Love
0
Funny
0
Angry
0
Sad
0
Wow
0
