Newcastle United face fresh injury concern as Eddie Howe hits back after Manchester United – moments missed

Miguel Almiron back at St James’ Park as Newcastle fans show their support

Newcastle top scorer Miguel Almiron was at St James’ Park after picking up a thigh injury that is likely to keep him on the sidelines for the near future. Despite the Paraguayan not being anywhere to be seen near the pitch, The Magpies fans still showed their support for the winger by singing his name to the tune of ‘Baby Give It Up’ by KC and the Sunshine Band ahead of the game.

The 29-year-old could be seen with his trademark grin in the stands as his team-mates put in one of their best performances of the season. Second half goals from Joe Willock and Callum Wilson saw the hosts claim a deserved victory that saw them move back up to third in the Premier League table.

As for Almiron, head coach Eddie Howe claims the player is making ‘really good progress’ but still expects the player to be out for the next four weeks.

Manchester United fans chant about two former Newcastle United strikers

As usual, Man United fans took less than 10 minutes into the game to start chanting about Newcastle’s all-time leading goalscorer Alan Shearer, who turned down a move to Old Trafford in favour of his boyhood club in 1996. ‘Cheer up Alan Shearer’ and ‘Shearer sent you down’ could be heard from the away section in level seven while some Newcastle fans responded with the usual ‘Shearer turned you down’ taunt.

Man United fans also sang about Andy Cole, who joined the club from Newcastle in 1995 for a then British transfer record of £7million. Cole had scored an impressive 68 goals in 84 games for The Magpies before joining The Red Devils, where he enjoyed a decorated spell.

Cole scored 121 goals in 275 appearances for Manchester United, winning five Premier League titles, two FA Cups and the Champions League.

‘Only one Bruno’

It was the battle of the Bruno’s in midfield at St James’ Park as Newcastle’s Bruno Guimaraes locked horns with Bruno Fernandes of Man United. Newcastle had dominated the first half in terms of chances, but a rare foray into the penalty area for the visitors saw Fernandes go down as Fabian Schar cleared the ball ahead of him.

The Manchester United captain quickly got back to his feet to appeal to referee Stuart Attwell for a penalty, but nothing was given as the visitors failed to manage a shot on target in the first half.

In response to Fernandes’ frustration, the Newcastle fans quickly sang ‘there’s only one Bruno’ in support of their Brazilian midfielder.

But he wasn't the only visiting player letting his emotions get the better of him as forward Marcus Rashford went down while battling for the ball with Dan Burn only for nothing to be given. The England forward proceeded to pick up his boot and throw it on the floor in anger.

Manchester United try to play Newcastle at their own game as Eddie Howe and Jacob Murphy hit back

From early in the game, it was clear Man United were trying to get under the skin of the Newcastle fans with De Gea taking plenty of time with his goal kicks. Ahead of the match, away manager Erik ten Hag stated Newcastle like to ‘delay’ matches having previously described Howe’s side as ‘annoying’ to play against.

The Magpies may have the lowest amount of ‘ball in play’ time of any Premier League side this season but Man United were certainly the ones contributing to that stat on Sunday as De Gea was fortunate to avoid a booking for the extended amount of time he spent taking goal kicks.

And Newcastle fans certainly made their feelings clear whenever the Red Devils delayed the match when the score was at 0-0.

Howe and ten Hag clashed on the touchline during the match and afterwards the Newcastle head coach appeared to hit back at his opponent’s comments regarding time-wasting.

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

"I don’t get where this time-wasting nonsense has come from. It’s not us. You saw today. We wanted the ball back in play as quickly as possible. High energy, high tempo. Ball in play.”

Newcastle’s resident joker Jacob Murphy also made reference to the comments as he made a watch pointing gesture following the win.

Fresh Newcastle injury concern

It was a big win for Newcastle but not without some concern ahead of Wednesday’s trip to West Ham United (8pm kick-off). Goalscorer Joe Willock was brought off in the closing stages of the match with Howe confirming there is some concern regarding the 23-year-old.

“He was feeling his hamstring, but he wasn’t sure if it was cramp or something more sinister,” Howe admitted. “So we’ll wait and see. A couple more players just nursing little things because of the physical game that it was.”

Newcastle looking to buck a trend

The 2-0 win saw Newcastle keep their first clean sheet in nine matches and leaves them sitting third in the table and ahead of Manchester United on goal difference with 11 games remaining.

Although the result would never make up for the Carabao Cup final defeat 35 days prior, there was a small dish of revenge served up by The Magpies – especially if they are able to go and pip Man United to a top four place.

But doing that would mean finishing above the Red Devils, something Newcastle haven’t done since the 1976-77 season when they narrowly pipped them to UEFA Cup qualification by two points. Let’s hope it’s Champions League qualification this time around.