Manchester United have themselves to blame for what they did before Newcastle goal

United have themselves to blame

Of all the frustration Manchester United felt at St. James' Park, the biggest is that the first goal they did eventually concede was all their own doing.

David de Gea took a short goal-kick that was a totally needless risk, and Raphael Varane was forced to concede possession with a wild clearance into the crowd.

Newcastle sensed blood, and Alexandar Isak whipped up the home crowd into a frenzy. Moments later, United failed to clear the ball from the edge of their own box, and the home side would take the lead after overpowering them in the box.

Ten Hag has instilled a never-surrender mentality at United, but this was an afternoon in which their entire approach seemed to be to try and delay the inevitable.

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A wasted opportunity

Allan Saint-Maximin was likely licking his lips at the look of the United line up when it emerged there was going to be a change at right-back.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka had travelled up for the match but withdrew due to illness, meaning that Diogo Dalot came back into the side having recently lost his place.

Saint-Maximin had got the better of Dalot in the Carabao Cup final two months ago, but was silenced in the second-half when Wan-Bissaka came on.

The Portuguese needed a big performance on Sunday to not only win the game but win back his position in the starting line up too.

He was by no means the only underperformer in red, but his poor performance highlighted the lack of fight from Ten Hag's side on such an important day.

Tactical risk backfired

Ten Hag labeled Newcastle as 'annoying' in the build-up to their Carabao Cup final clash two months prior, but this was a case of role reversal as United looked to