Manchester United fought back from two down to beat Newcastle and avert a defeat that would have put manager Jose Mourinho under immense pressure.
2018/2019 Premier League
3-2
Match Events
7' GOAL! Man Utd 0-1 Newcastle (Kenedy)
Goal! Manchester United 0, Newcastle United 1. Kenedy (Newcastle United) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Ayoze Pérez.
10' GOAL! Man Utd 0-2 Newcastle (Muto)
Goal! Manchester United 0, Newcastle United 2. Yoshinori Muto (Newcastle United) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Jonjo Shelvey with a cross.
70' GOAL! Man Utd 1-2 Newcastle (Mata)
Game on folks as Mata curls a delightful free kick over the Newcastle wall and past Dubravka at his left-hand post for his second goal of the season.
There are 20 minutes left to play, plenty of time for United to score again...
76' GOAL! Man Utd 2-2 Newcastle (Martial)
Wow, what a comeback as from Pogba's delightful back heel, Martial gains possession just inside the left edge of the area. However, the forward still had work to do to beat Dubravka with a low drive at his near post.
90' GOAL! Man Utd 3-2 Newcastle (Sanchez)
GOOOALLLL!!!! Young whipped the ball into Martial, who had drawn the attention of the defenders, but it makes it past them and Sanchez heads it in at the back post! Has that goal saved Jose Mourinho's job?! Manchester United 3-2 Newcastle.
Match Report
Newcastle went in front for the first time in a league game this season only seven minutes in, as Kenedy ran onto Ayoze Perez's throughball, turned away from Ashley Young and curled past David de Gea.
It was 2-0 just three minutes later, Yoshinori Muto spinning beyond Young and firing home from 12 yards out, prompting Mourinho to bring on Mata for Eric Bailly in a drastic reshuffle of his side.
Marcus Rashford then headed a golden chance wide as sections of the United fans began to turn their ire towards the club's board, chanting in support of Mourinho and former captain Gary Neville, who criticised the club's hierarchy on Friday.
It could have been even worse for United before the break, with De Gea clawing away a header from Muto and Young perhaps lucky not to concede a penalty for blocking a free-kick with his arm – although Muto was likewise fortunate for escaping the same offence in his own box.
Mourinho jogged down the tunnel at half-time to considerable applause from the home fans, who should have been celebrating a goal five minutes after the restart, when Nemanja Matic blazed over the bar with the goal gaping after Martin Dubravka denied Paul Pogba.
Mata grabbed a lifeline 21 minutes from time with an excellent free-kick from 20 yards out, which seemed to spark some life back into the home side, and Martial made it 2-2 after combining brilliantly with Pogba before firing into the bottom-left corner.
United's pressure did not relent and Sanchez responded to his own critics with a fine header from Young's deep cross from the right, prompting resounding chants in support of Mourinho from the buoyant home crowd.
Line-ups
Man Utd XI: A. Young, N. Matić, David de Gea, Smalling, R. Lukaku, P. Pogba, L.Shaw, A.Martial, Bailly, M. Rashford, S. McTominay
Subs: A.Sánchez, M. Fellaini, Sergio Romero, J.Mata, V. Lindelöf, Fred, A.Pereira
Newcastle XI: Martin Dubravka, Shelvey, Diamé, F. Fernández, Ritchie, Y. Muto, J. Lascelles, Manquillo, A.Pérez, Yedlin, Kenedy
Subs: Joselu, Clark, F. Schär, K. Darlow, Atsu, Hayden, J.Murphy