Manchester United were blown away at St James’ Park, where they were stuffed 4-1 by hosts Newcastle United.
An Alejandro Garnacho equaliser saw United go in level at half-time but they couldn’t get a foothold after the restart and were overwhelmed by the Magpies, who were back in front within five minutes.
After watching his side go behind for a second time manager Ruben Amorim responded with a triple substitution, bringing Patrick Dorgu on to replace 18-year-old Harry Amass, who made his first Premier League start.
He may only have been on the pitch for 35 minutes, but Dorgu made his presence felt as he dived into the physical contest to try and salvage something for the Red Devils.
He made four fouls during his time on the pitch as he grappled with Kieran Trippier and Bruno Guimaraes down the left flank.
No other United man made more than one foul, and the rest of the team combined made only one more than the effervescent young Dane.
The 20-year-old enthusiastically contested 11 duels, but was only able to come out on top three times against robust opposition.
He made two tackles and one clearance as he tried to keep the hosts at bay, but was dribbled past twice as the Newcastle onslaught kept coming.
Only one United player had a higher pass completion rate than Dorgu’s 94%, as he found his man with 15 of his 16 attempted passes.
One of those was classed as a key pass, and he was pinpoint accurate with the one long ball he attempted.
The left wing-back was a bundle of energy when he made it onto the pitch, and although Amass performed creditably Dorgu remains more likely to start against Olympique Lyonnais on Thursday.
Luke Shaw, United’s long-term left-back also made an appearance today as Amorim explored his options in that position, but the injury-prone Englishman will likely be eased back in.
Stats taken from sofascore.
Featured image Michael Regan via Getty Images
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Joe Ponting
Joe has spent more than half his life writing about football and all of it following United. As a child he told a doctor his name was ‘Paul Scholes’, but could never pick a pass like him no matter how much he tried.
