Second-half goals from Joe Willock and Callum Wilson helped Newcastle United to a 2-0 home win over Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday and leapfrog Erik ten Hag’s side in the bid to secure Champions League qualification.
Newcastle created plenty of chances throughout but did not convert, thanks in part to another solid performance from United goalkeeper David De Gea, until Willock arrived unmarked to convert an Allan Saint-Maximin cutback on 64 minutes.
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Wilson came off the bench on 80 minutes and netted a header from a well-taken Kieran Trippier free kick to seal a precious victory.
The victory was some sort of revenge for Newcastle losing 2-0 to Ten Hag’s United in the Carabao Cup final in February.
“We played really well,” Willock said. “I feel like we deserved the victory and it was electric today in there, and I feel like we fed off [the fans], and I feel like we owed them one after the cup final. We didn’t take that lightly.
“Losing the cup final, it hurts, it hurts a lot, so we took that anger into this game today.”
Meanwhile, United failed to threaten the Newcastle goal and did not manage a shot on target until the 56th minute, which came through an unchallenging effort from winger Antony.
Sunday’s result means Newcastle move up to third place in the Premier League, ahead of United in fourth on goal difference. The two sides are level on 50 points with a game in hand over fifth-placed Tottenham.
“I think we’ve had some moments like this since the turn of the year, where we haven’t scored the goals that maybe we should have done,” Newcastle manager Eddie Howe told Sky Sports.
“First half was another example of that really where we were frustrated not to lead. But we needed patience, we felt if we performed the same way in the second half, the goal would come. Thankfully it did.”
United were missing the influence of midfielder Casemiro, who is serving a suspension, and defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka due to illness. Marcus Rashford’s return was good news, at least, after the striker sat out England’s Euro 2024 qualifying games with a knock.
Information from Reuters contributed to this report.
