Man Utd 0-0 Newcastle United – Player Ratings

Confidence restored as the Magpies earn an impressive point against the Red Devils.

Aleksandar Mitrovic made his full debut for Newcastle United as Steve McClaren dropped Papiss Cisse and brought in Ayoze Perez for the injured Moussa Sissoko. The Magpies' boss showed a boldness with his attacking team selection and the haunting cobwebs that had miserably stuck the team together at the Liberty Stadium were blown away as Newcastle played fast, confident, counter-attacking football and earned a well-deserved point at Old Trafford. The Magpies remained positive throughout the whole game and Manchester United's counter-attacks and crosses were well blocked by the Magpies' defence as they continued to frustrate their opposition. McClaren's game-plan worked and despite sticking with a 4-2-3-1, Gabriel Obertan, Georginio Wijnaldum and Ayoze Perez's work-rate and ball retention complimented the shape better than it did against Swansea last weekend. The Red Devils were wasteful in possession and peppered Newcastle's box with wasteful looping crosses and mis-placed through balls. Today though, they weren't getting past Fabricio Coloccini who put in a centre-back masterclass alongside the equally impressive Steven Taylor. It was a real team performance and the flashes of new-found confidence that were demonstrated against Southampton in the first game of the season were back on show. The team spirit, squad depth and tactical discipline was extremely refreshing to watch and perhaps it's alright to put the Swansea defeat down as a minor blip as the Magpies aim to get their first win of the season against Arsenal next weekend. Here at WhatCulture.com/NUFC we rate all of the Newcastle players performances and analyse how they did against Manchester United€
Contributor
Contributor

NCTJ-accredited football writer with an MA in Sports Journalism. What Culture football editor. Write for the official Newcastle United programme. Former video reporter at North News. Featured and published in the Sunderland Echo, Shields Gazette, Mail Online, The Mirror, The Sun and others.