Fernandes overcomes rare disappointment to fire Man Utd to victory

Fernandes.Man_.Utd_.TEAMtalk

Bruno Fernandes put the disappointment of his first missed penalty in 20 attempts behind him to notch a late the decisive goal as Man Utd defeated Newcastle 4-1.

The Red Devils got off to the worst start possible after conceding an unfortunate own goal inside the first two minutes.

Neat work from Newcastle talisman Allan Saint-Maximin and Jonjo Shelvey resulted in Emil Krafth being sprung free down the right. The Swede’s attempted cross took a wicked deflection off Luke Shaw and left David de Gea stranded as the deadlock was broken almost immediately.

Bruno Fernandes thought he had brought parity back to the scores, but in keeping with the theme of the day, the goal was ruled out via a VAR offside.

Solskjaer’s side did not have to wait long for the equaliser to come, however, when Harry Maguire put to bed the nightmares of his England display.

The centre-half rose highest to meet a Juan Mata corner and left Karl Darlow clutching at thin air as Utd hauled themselves back into the encounter.

There was a worrying moment for De Gea on the half hour mark who appeared to injury himself when colliding with the post after making a diving save

The pain was fleeting, however, and the Spaniard was able to continue after receiving brief treatment.

Man Utd stepped up the pressure as the half drew to a close. Aaron Wan-Bissaka forced a superb acrobatic stop from Darlow with a sliced cross, before Marcus Rashford saw a fierce strike blocked on the line.

The Magpies came close to regaining their lead soon ater the break, but De Gea produced a world class save to deny Callum Wilson.

The forward’s close range header was not only kept out by the Spaniard, but the ball was also pushed out to relative safety to deny Wilson a chance at the follow-up.

A goal seemed inevitable at either end, and it seemed as if Man Utd would take the lead when Marcus Rashford won a penalty after drawing a foul from Jamal Lewis.

Breaking a streak of 19 successful penalties, however, Bruno Fernandes saw his spot kick saved.

Man Utd were not deterred, and came close to finding the breakthrough moments later when Maguire saw another headed effort cleared off the line.

In a two-way battle to win the man of the match award, both goalkeepers continued to excel as their porous defences in front continued to serve up chance after chance.

Newcastle began to drop deep as the match entered it’s final quarter, with Maguire allowed to advance further forward into the Magpies’ half at will.

One such occasion brought about a whistling low drive that flew just past the post, much to the relief of Darlow who appeared to be struggling with a groin injury.

The weight of pressure finally told with minutes remaining, when smart work from Rashford free Fernandes 10 yards from goal.

The Portuguese left nothing to chance with his finish, curling a powerful effort into the top corner to hand Man Utd a 2-1 lead.

There was time left for Aaron Wan-Bissaka to rifle home his first goal for the club, before Rashford put the icing on the cake as Man Utd ran out 4-1 winners over Newcastle.