Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe's subtle new Manchester United dig after time-wasting claim

Newcastle United yesterday beat Manchester United 2-0 thanks to goals from Joe Willock and Callum Wilson.

Visiting manager Erik ten Hag – who had labelled Newcastle as “annoying” before February’s Carabao Cup final – claimed that Howe’s team set out to “delay” games in his pre-match press conference.

"We know they delay, yeah, and it’s something that the refereeing (body) doesn’t want,” said Ten Hag. “They want to have tempo in the game. That is the aim of the Premier League, to have tempo in the game, so then they also have to be consistent to let the game go.”

Howe responded to Ten Hag’s “nonsense” claim in his post-match press conference.

Asked about time-wasting claims, Howe said: “I’m pleased you brought that up, actually. I want to make one thing very clear – we want the ball in play. We play a quick game.”

Slowing it down

Howe and his staff clashed with Ten Hag on the touchline late in the game, and, speaking to NUFC TV, Newcastle’s head coach, accused the visitors of trying to delay the game when it was goalless.

“We wanted a quick game,” said Howe. “We wanted to keep the ball in play. We were determined to try and do that from minute one.

"Yeah, Manchester United tried to slow it down, so it was difficult for us. We wanted to keep that momentum in the game, and I thought the players did that really well, especially after missing some chances in the first half. We didn’t let the tempo drop.”