Newcastle vs Man United: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's misery deepens as Matty Longstaff scores debut winner
Follow all the reaction from the game at St James’ Park
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Your support makes all the difference.Newcastle United‘s Matthew Longstaff enjoyed a dream Premier League debut by scoring a late winner as his side beat visitors Manchester United 1-0 to move out of the bottom three on Sunday.
The 19-year-old, playing in midfield alongside his older brother Sean, had clipped the bar with a dipping first-half effort but made no mistake as he beat goalkeeper David de Gea with a sweetly-struck low drive after 72 minutes.
While the there was some much-needed joy on Tyneside for Newcastle’s fans, who celebrated only a second league win of the season, another lacklustre display by United left Ole Gunnar Solskjaer‘s side in the bottom half of the table.
United have scored only nine Premier League goals in eight games, four of them coming in a 4-0 win on day one against Chelsea, and again they looked bereft of attacking spark. Their best chance saw defender Harry Maguire head wastefully wide from a corner on the stroke of halftime.
The 20-time English champions will enter the international break in 12th spot, two points above the relegation zone and 15 behind leaders Liverpool who they host in a fortnight. Newcastle are a point behind United in 16th spot.
It was Steve Bruce’s best day since replacing the popular Rafa Benitez as he claimed a first win as manager over his old club at the 23rd attempt on his 400th match in charge of a Premier League club. However, the day belonged to Longstaff. Relive all the action:
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Hello and welcome along to live coverage of Newcastle vs Manchester United...
Both sides make a number of changes in an attempt to rediscover some form. Newcastle, after last weekend's 5-0 thrashing against Leicester, bring Ciaran Clark, DeAndre Yedlin, Jetro Willems, Matt Longstaff and Allan Saint-Maximin into their starting XI.
Manchester United, meanwhile, make six changes from the team that drew with AZ Alkmaar on Thursday night, with Harry Maguire, Axel Tuanzebe, Ashley Young, Andreas Pereira, Scott McTominay and Marcus Rashford all coming into the side.
There's a Premier League debut for 19-year-old Matty Longstaff this afternoon. He'll partner his brother Sean in midfield.
Steve Bruce is optimistic that today's game could be the catalyst for an upturn in fortune at St. James' Park.
“Yes, they might not be the Manchester United of the past, but they’ve still got some very good players and we’re going to have to be better than we were last week," the Newcastle boss said.
“It’s a wonderful time to play them because it’s a full house live on TV. If you have to bounce back against anybody, what better way than against them?
“It’ll be a big occasion and we have to make sure we’re ready for it. We’ve played badly in a couple of games, but we’re capable. We’re going to have to play well on the day."
Wolves' remarkable 2-0 victory at Manchester City means they leapfrog United into 11th in the Premier League standings. Should Solskjaer's side win this afternoon, though, they'll climb to the lofty heights of seventh place.
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