NEWCASTLE, England — If Manchester United beat Lyon and go on to win the UEFA Europa League, then this miserable afternoon at Newcastle United might be worth it. If not, this heavy defeat at St. James’ Park will go down as just another horrific result in a season that is already the worst in the club’s recent history.
United lost 4-1 to a rampant Newcastle side thanks to a catastrophic second-half display during which they gifted the hosts three goals.
There was already pressure on United ahead of Lyon’s visit to Old Trafford on Thursday with so much riding on the Europa League. There’s more now.
Manager Ruben Amorim can only hope this was a blip after a period of relative progress. A similar performance against Lyon in their quarterfinal second leg on Thursday and United’s hopes of playing in next season’s UEFA Champions League will go up in smoke.
“We are going to analyze the game, but we need to focus on the next one,” Amorim said after the match. “We cannot change this one. The next one is massive for us, so let’s focus on the next one on Thursday to play better and to win the game.”
Amorim had one eye on Lyon right from the start.
The Portuguese coach brought in two players who will almost certainly leave in the summer, Victor Lindelöf and Christian Eriksen, and handed a full Premier League debut to 18-year-old defender Harry Amass.
Altay Bayindir was also picked in the league for the first team following the decision to omit André Onana. The official line was that Onana was “rested,” although his two costly errors in France in midweek means it must surely be taken with an amount of skepticism.
Bayindir has had to wait more than 18 months to play in the Premier League, but it was anything but a day to remember.
The Turkey international made one outstanding save from Alexander Isak in the first half to mark the occasion. As far as highlights go, that was it.
He struggled with the ball at his feet throughout and was to blame for Newcastle’s fourth goal. His pass into midfield was cut out by Joelinton, and when the ball fell to Bruno Guimarães, he was left with a simple finish.
It was at that point that Amorim had seen enough, and he spared his captain, Bruno Fernandes, for the final 10 minutes. Fernandes is very rarely substituted, but if United have any hope of getting past Lyon, they need him as fit and fresh as possible.
Fernandes is a certain starter against Lyon. Bayindir, however, faces an anxious wait to see if he will keep his place. After Onana’s mistakes and Bayindir’s nervous performance here, maybe No. 3 Tom Heaton is in with a shout. For now, Amorim is giving nothing away.
“You guys [the media] have to wait,” he said. “We are going to start the next week [Monday] and I’m going to choose the best starting XI for the next one.”
Bayindir wasn’t alone in making errors. Newcastle’s dominant second-half display started with Tino Livramento breezing past Diogo Dalot, and Amass, Lindelöf and Leny Yoro all falling asleep to allow Jacob Murphy to cut the ball back for Harvey Barnes.
Barnes also got the third when he took advantage of a slip from Noussair Mazraoui and ran unchallenged through the center of United’s defense to score. Neither Lindelöf nor Eriksen will want to see the replay.
Amorim’s misery in the second half was topped off by an injury to Joshua Zirkzee. The Netherlands forward limped off clutching his hamstring and could now face a battle to play again this season.
“When we suffered the second goal in the beginning of the second half we went down, and we need to be better in these moments, we need to control it,” Amorim said. “They are already a really, really good team, but the mistakes we made during the game helped the team to win confidence and win the game.”
And so on to Lyon. Booking a place in the semifinals of the Europa League will repair some of the damage done here. Anything less and United’s season will be officially over.
The league campaign was done and dusted a while ago, and defeat to Newcastle means they are now mathematically certain to finish with their lowest points total in the Premier League era.
After Newcastle completed their first league double over United since 1931 — without manager Eddie Howe, who was hospitalized on Friday night — they moved up to fourth in the table to keep themselves in the race to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
Amorim’s quest for the same prize rests solely on getting a result against Lyon in four days’ time. Whether United can will depend on how quickly they can banish the memory of their miserable afternoon in Newcastle — the latest chapter in a season to forget.
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