Manchester United have lost last season’s most dangerous weapon

From the moment Miguel Almiron opened the scoring, there was never a sense around Old Trafford on Wednesday that Manchester United would beat Newcastle and perhaps that is the most concerning takeaway from a woeful midweek evening.

Changes were aplenty for both sides but the feeling very much the same, United huffing and puffing in the opening exchanges but crumbling at the first hurdle. Lewis Hall made it 2-0 before half-time and despite a semi-decent spell for 10 minutes after the break, Joe Willock ended the contest on the hour and handed Erik ten Hag a fifth defeat in 10 home games.

There really was no place like home for United last season, with Ten Hag's side unbeaten across any competition from September onwards. They were humbled by Brighton on the opening weekend and lost a pretty turgid Europa League affair against Real Sociedad, but home fans often came away from Old Trafford with a feeling of positivity.

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Match-goers in recent weeks have left the Theatre of Dreams with little else but a sense of trepidation as to what will happen the next time they go through the turnstiles. A tight win over FC Copenhagen was followed by defeat in the Manchester derby and then a similarly dismal performance on Wednesday.

Eight defeats in 15 represents United's worst start to a season since 1962 and that run of five home losses in 10 is as bad as it has been since 1930. Ten Hag would hoped to have broken records in Manchester, but not these ones.

Another damning statistic came courtesy of Sky Sports during the build-up to Wednesday's defeat, which highlighted that United had been ahead for just 29 minutes of