Man Utd 0-0 Newcastle United - McClaren's Men Battle To Earn Point At Old Trafford

Newcastle United ended a run of seven successive away defeats by claiming a battling point at Old Trafford against Louis van Gaal's Manchester United. Aleksandar Mitrovic even had a couple of chances for the Magpies on his full debut, but in truth it was Newcastle's defence that starred in Manchester to earn Steve McClaren a 0-0 draw on his return to his old stomping ground. Florian Thauvin also made his Newcastle debut off the bench as Tim Krul and Fabricio Coloccini in particular kept the Red Devils at bay. In terms of McClaren's starting line-up at Old Trafford, Steven Taylor came in for the suspended Daryl Janmaat, with Chancel Mbemba shifting to right-back, while the injured Moussa Sissoko was also replaced by Ayoze Perez. Additionally, Aleksandar Mitrovic made his full Newcastle debut, coming in for Papiss Cisse up front. In fact, less than 30 seconds into the game Mitrovic could easily have been booked for a hack, showing why he received yellow cards almost instantaneously in both his opening two replacement appearances in the Barclays Premier League. And, inside three minutes, Newcastle were picking the ball out of their own net - but, thankfully for the visitors, Wayne Rooney was adjudged to have been offside after receiving Adnan Januzaj's through-ball and then lashing it past Tim Krul. Inside the first 10 minutes, Man Utd averaged more than 70% possession and the Red Devils' passing fluency ensured Newcastle struggled to get any sort of foothold in the game whatsoever. Vurnon Anita and Jack Colback were both run ragged in the early stages, simply unable to follow their men, and Newcastle's attempts to play the ball out from defence simply resulted in them giving away possession the majority of the time. The Magpies were just so open, and could do nothing to prevent the Red Devils' onslaught. Massadio Haidara actually had the visitors' first real attack, when he flicked the ball into the Man Utd box, but his eagerness to retain possession saw him harshly booked for a foul on Daley Blind. Straight up the other end, Memphis then pushed the ball past Mbemba and curled an effort right into Krul's hands. Then came the moment where Mitrovic proved he could be devastating in the Premier League. A delicious delivery from Mbemba found the Serbian, who rose highest to power a header off the top of the Man Utd bar from 16 yards. Agonisingly for NUFC, it was inches too high. Almost immediately, Memphis then had an effort up the other end as Man Utd continued to harry the Magpies' box, but Mbemba made a magnificent challenge. On the rare occasions they did get the ball, the likes of Haidara and Gabriel Obertan wasted it, but after a woeful opening 20 minutes, Newcastle did start to grow into the game more. Georginio Wijnaldum epitomised NUFC's first-half improvement, badgering Chris Smalling into giving the ball straight to Perez, whose effort from the edge of the area went just wide of the post. And the Magpies had their captain to be thankful for keeping the score level right on half-time. Colback having given the ball away for the umpteenth time to allow Man Utd to counter, before a great Coloccini sliding challenge prevented Memphis from getting an effort in on goal. The second-half started with Man Utd settling straight back into their rhythm again early, but a couple of runs from Haidara also relieved pressure for Newcastle. Memphis' pace then reinvigorated the Old Trafford crowd, and Obertan was forced to bring the Man Utd winger down, resulting in a booking too. Thankfully for Newcastle, Memphis' 25-yard free-kick smashed straight into the wall. Despite the Red Devils' dominance of possession, they struggled to breakdown a resolute Newcastle defence. In the 69th minute, Thauvin was then introduced to make his Magpies debut and he was fouled by Luke Shaw within seconds of running on to the pitch. Steven Taylor then did well to block a Rooney effort and Juan Mata smashed a shot over the bar as the game opened up past the 70th-minute mark. Shaw was next to make a run at the Newcastle back four, but his sliced shot was straight at Krul, who gathered it comfortably. Then, on 80 minutes, Krul was the hero for the Magpies. A Mata effort deflected back to substitute Javier Hernandez, who ran into the box and attempted to slot an effort across the Dutchman, but Krul blocked magnificently. Another replacement, Antonio Valencia, also had an effort parried by Coloccini late on as Newcastle fought for their lives. Chris Smalling then smashed a header off the post at the start of injury-time, before Wijnaldum counter-attacked to release substitute Papiss Cisse, whose low whipped ball was agonisingly ahead of Thauvin. Michael Carrick also fired a 25-yarder wide. Man Utd threw everything at Newcastle late on, but McClaren's men held firm. Coloccini looked a player re-born, while Krul was also back to his best. Finally, NUFC showed promising signs defensively.

Manchester United (4-2-3-1): Romero; Darmian (Valencia 77), Smalling, Blind, Shaw; Schneiderlin, Schweinsteiger (Carrick 58); Matt, Januzaj (Hernandez 67), Depay; Rooney Subs Not Used: Johnstone, Young, Herrera, McNair Booked: Darmian, Shaw Newcastle United (4-2-3-1): Krul; Coloccini, Mbemba, Taylor, Haidara; Anita, Colback; Obertan (Thauvin 69), Wijnaldum, Perez (Tiote 78); Mitrovic (Cisse 88) Subs Not Used: Darlow, Aarons, De Jong, Williamson Booked: Haidara, Obertan Referee: Craig PawsonFor all the latest NUFC News, Views and Transfers make sure to follow WhatCulture.com/NUFC on Twitter and Facebook.