Everything that could go wrong did go wrong on Sunday as Manchester United capitulated in the second-half against Newcastle United to eventually lose their Premier League encounter 1-4 at St James’ Park.
Ruben Amorim decided to be bold and made a few crucial changes including a first English top-flight start for Altay Bayindir in place of the struggling Andre Onana.
However, the Turk also endured a miserable outing as he was to blame for the hosts’ fourth goal as he misplaced a pass while trying to play out from the back, allowing Bruno Guimaraes the chance to slot home.
In the midfield, Christian Eriksen got a rare start in place of Casemiro, who was rested keeping in mind Thursday’s Europa League quarter-final. The Dane failed to deal with the Newcastle press and struggled throughout the game.
Shaw return
Up front, the woefully out-of-form Rasmus Hojlund was dropped for Joshua Zirkzee, who ended up picking up what seemed like a hamstring injury and could be out for the rest of the season.
The only silver lining came in the 78th minute as Luke Shaw made his return from injury after more than a four-month spell on the sidelines.
The England international has been a huge miss this season, with the 29-year-old making only his third league appearance of the season on Sunday.
With Lisandro Martinez out and Patrick Dorgu struggling, the former Southampton star’s return could be a huge bonus for Amorim and United.
His quality was evident in the 17 minutes he was on the pitch, as the Englishman completed 86 per cent of his passes while having 15 touches of the ball (all stats via sofascore).
He also completed two key passes in such a short span of time while also creating one big chance with a perfectly curling cross that was met by Hojlund, who failed to divert it towards goal.
Impressive cameo
The Dane has not really got such service this season and the left-back’s return could see him get such chances in the box more often.
One long ball of his also found its mark. When fit, former manager Erik ten Hag had termed him the best left-back in the world but his injury problems have really let him down.
The England international will hope he can see out the rest of the season without picking up an injury, especially as INEOS are looking to move him on due to his poor injury record.
He needs to convince the co-owners that he is worth keeping around. His quality was never in doubt and now is the time to prove it. Amorim will obviously be careful with his minutes and it will be intriguing to see when he gets his first start of the season.
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Ayantan Chowdhury
Ayantan has worked for 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites but his heart was always set on writing about his favourite club. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25
