Gary Neville delivers damning assessment of Man Utd defeat at Champions League rivals Newcastle

Manchester United legend Gary Neville believes Erik ten Hag was let down by his players as they suffered a defeat at top-four rivals Newcastle United.

The Red Devils travelled to the North East looking to replicate their Carabao Cup Final win over the Magpies in February and strengthen their grip on third place in the Premier League table. However, it was the hosts that always looked the more likely of the two sides to grab the first goal of the game as Eddie Howe’s men enjoyed the better of the first-half without breaking the deadlock, despite creating several good opportunities to do so.

There was little respite in the second-half as the Magpies swarmed all over Ten Hag’s side and they finally got a breakthrough when Allan Saint-Maximin’s header across the six-yard box was diverted beyond David de Gea by the lively Joe Willock.

Ten Hag rolled the dice late on as he made a number of attacking substitutions but they had little impact on events and the Dutch boss could only watch on as his side conceded a second goal when Callum Wilson headed home from a Kieran Trippier cross. The defeat means the Magpies have leapfrogged the Red Devils to take third place in the table and Sky Sports pundit Neville insisted the hosts were good value for their win.

He said: “You wondered at half-time if they’d (Newcastle) missed their chance.

“Sometimes Manchester United flip-flop from one performance to another, first-half to second. But Erik ten Hag has not been able to impact his team in the second-half and they’ve really let him down today. Newcastle have been fantastic, they (Man Utd) have been beaten all ends up. Twenty one shots, Manchester United only had one on target out of their six. Forty one touches in the opposition box, you could have no complaints if you’re a Manchester United fan today. They’ve been well beaten.”

Ten Hag’s side are back in action in midweek when Brentford travel to Old Trafford and the former Ajax manager will expect a much-improved display from his players.