Pogba inspires Manchester United to big win: 3 things we learned
Manchester United beat Newcastle 4-1 at Old Trafford on Saturday, Nov. 18. Here are three takeaways from the match.
Manchester United came from behind to thrash Newcastle 4-1 at Old Trafford on Saturday in Paul Pogba’s return to the starting XI. Here are three takeaways from the match.
Pogba is United’s best player, and it’s not even close
The big story heading into the match was that Paul Pogba would make his return to Manchester United’s starting XI following a 12-match absence. He didn’t disappoint, providing the assist for Anthony Martial’s equalizer, scoring one of his own and flashing the all-around skill set that has made him one of the best midfielders in the Premier League this season.
It can be hard to pinpoint what makes Pogba so good, but that’s largely because he does so many things so well. He’s equally comfortable dropping deep and setting the tempo in midfield as he is beating a defender one-on-one down the wing, and that’s not even to mention the work he gets through without the ball.
Pogba was at the heart of almost everything good United did, playing deep to begin with before pushing further up the pitch after Newcastle took the lead. Jose Mourinho will no doubt be relieved to have his best player back in the fold, and hoping he remains fit for the rest of the season. United are a different, much better team when Pogba’s on the pitch.
Newcastle are alright
Newcastle can’t have penciled in an away trip to Old Trafford as a must-win at the beginning of the season, but following losses to Bournemouth and Burnley, this one will still sting for Rafa Benitez, especially since it came against his old nemesis, Mourinho.
Still, the Magpies played well in the first, and caused the best defense in the league a lot of problems. That owed much to Benitez’s decision to play Joselu and Dwight Gayle up front, a surprisingly attacking switch for a manager who has never been shy about playing for a clean sheet away from home.
Newcastle ended the day in 11th place after 12 games, five points clear of the relegation zone. Given the club seemed on the brink of crisis over the summer (not an uncommon state of affairs for this club, to be fair), with Benitez apparently on the brink of walking away, that qualifies as a good start.
They’ve got two winnable matches coming up, against Watford and lowly West Brom. Should they fail to pick up any points from those, perhaps it will be time to start asking more serious questions, but despite a lopsided scoreline, this was nothing more than a bad day at the office against vastly superior opposition.
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Things are looking up for United
United endured a difficult run of form between the last two international breaks, winning only once in four league matches to slip eight points behind league-leaders Manchester City. Whether they can catch City or not, this result went a long to putting that bad stretch behind them.
Not only did Pogba make his return to the starting XI, but Romelu Lukaku got back on the score sheet after a run of seven matches without the goal and Zlatan Ibrahimovic came off the bench for his first appearance after a long injury layoff.
Mourinho still has some injury concerns, with Eric Bailly and Phil Jones both still out, but he’s much better equipped to deal with defensive personnel issues than attacking ones. Victor Lindelof slipped in the buildup to Newcastle’s opener, but other than that he and Chris Smalling held up well in the heart of United’s defense.
The question for this team is always going to be whether they create enough to capitalize on their defensive prowess. With Pogba, Lukaku, Ibrahimovic, Juan Mata, Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford all fit and on form, that shouldn’t be a problem.
United have matches against Brighton, Watford and Arsenal before a massive game against City on Dec. 10. If they’re going to catch City, nine points feel like a must. This was a great start to a crucial stretch of matches.