Man Utd 0-0 Newcastle: Marcus Rashford and Fred miss late chances after Joelinton hit woodwork twice

Marcus Rashford and Fred missed two late chances for Manchester United as Newcastle held on for a goalless draw at Old Trafford.

Fred missed an empty net in the 88th minute after Rashford had rounded Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope to set up the Brazil midfielder but he miscued his effort past the post following pressure from Fabian Schar.

Rashford, who had replaced Cristiano Ronaldo after the Portugal forward saw two second-half goals disallowed, then headed wide from Casemiro's cross in the 95th minute.

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The visitors came closest to scoring in the first half when Joelinton hit the woodwork twice as he headed against the crossbar and then headed his rebound against the post.

The goalless draw leaves United fifth, three points off fourth-placed Chelsea, while Newcastle remain a point further back in sixth to extend their unbeaten run to five games.

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How United failed to break deadlock against Newcastle

Before kick-off at Old Trafford, former United boss Sir Alex Ferguson made presentations to Ronaldo and goalkeeper David de Gea after Ronaldo scored his 700th club goal last weekend, while the Spain goalkeeper made his 500th United appearance against Newcastle.

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But it was the visitors who nearly spoiled the celebrations as Joelinton beat De Gea twice only for the woodwork to deny him in quick succession in the 24th minute, after Callum Wilson had a ninth-minute penalty appeal against Raphael Varane turned down.

United's only shot on target in the first half came through Antony whose low effort was stopped at the near post by Pope.

Cristiano Ronaldo then had two goals disallowed in the space of two second-half minutes, with his first ruled out for a clear offside in the 48th minute.

But the second was more controversial as the Portugal forward thought Newcastle had already taken their free-kick to nip in and steal the ball away from Pope to roll into an empty net.

Referee Craig Pawson, however, believed the ball was still dead despite Schar's touch to Pope and booked Ronaldo for his protestations.

The 37-year-old was then brought off - to his annoyance - for Rashford with 18 minutes to go and the substitution nearly paid off for United boss Erik ten Hag.

First Rashford set up Fred but he missed when under pressure and then the England striker wasted a last-minute chance as he headed wide across the face of goal to see Ten Hag record his first draw since taking over.

Ten Hag: We deserved victory | 'We should've scored winner'

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Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag: "The performance was good, a clean sheet, we pressed well, we controlled the game and in stages we were good on the ball - especially in the second half.

"Then, we dictated the game and in the end we could - we should - have scored the winning goal. One from Fred, and then [Marcus] Rashford had to score.

"In the end we could have got the win, we deserved the win, and it is a big compliment to the team that we deserved this with a physical performance against one of the most physical teams in the league. They [Newcastle players] all had cramp and we kept going."

Howe: We suffered physically in the second half

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Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe: "Certainly in the first half, I feel we should've been leading. I thought we executed the game plan really well, we were aggressive and on the front foot. We unsettled their rhythm and there were those moments for Joelinton which could have been very different.

"He's unlucky with the first header as it was a brilliant effort and he's unlucky with the second one as well. I thought we could've had a penalty as well with Callum Wilson's challenge.

"Physically we seemed to suffer in the second half as there was a bit of illness in the camp in midweek. There were a couple of players playing today who weren't 100 per cent fit.

"Maybe that was one of the reasons and I don't think we were great on the ball either today. We gave the ball away at times which was uncharacteristic of us. That takes its toll on you physically."

England World Cup squad watch

England manager Gareth Southgate was not at Old Trafford on Sunday as he instead chose to be at Villa Park on Sunday - here's how his potential World Cup players performed in the goalless draw in the north west.

Marcus Rashford started on the bench after feeling "under the weather" according to Ten Hag, but he came on in the 72nd minute to have an impact on the game. He nearly provided an assist for Fred and then he headed wide at the end - more clinical finishing from Rashford going forward and he could well be on the plane to Qatar.

Jadon Sancho was very disappointing for United and fell theatrically as he tried to win a penalty in the second half.

Luke Shaw put in a decent display defensively but struggled to impact the game in the final third.

For Newcastle, Kieran Trippier impressed at right-back and showed why he could well be starting for England in their opening game against Iran on November 21 after a solid display at Old Trafford, which included an impressive last-ditch block on Ronaldo.

Goalkeeper Nick Pope made a decent save from Antony at his near post, although he was nearly embarrassed by Rashford after the striker rounded him only for Fred to miss.

Callum Wilson had a very quiet afternoon for Newcastle, although he did not have great service and nearly forced a penalty from Raphael Varane.

Gareth Southgate has until Friday October 21 to submit his provisional England squad for the World Cup in Qatar, which gets under way on November 20.

Any provisional squad will have to be whittled down to a final 26-man list, which has to be submitted to FIFA on Monday November 14.

Fantasy Premier League stats

Opta stats: Newcastle have drawn the most in PL this season

• Newcastle have drawn more Premier League games this season than any other side (six). In fact, it's only the second time they have drawn as many as six of their opening 10 games of a league season, also drawing six in 1924-25. Manchester United have only lost one of their last 13 Premier League home games (W7 D5), a 1-2 defeat to Brighton on MD1 this season.
• Newcastle have won just one of their 28 Premier League games at Old Trafford (D9 L18), with their 3.6% win ratio their joint-lowest at any ground they've played 10+ times at in the competition (also 1/28 at Anfield).
• Newcastle's Nick Pope kept his 50th clean sheet in the Premier League; no English goalkeeper has kept more shutouts in the competition since his debut in September 2017 (level with Jordan Pickford).

What's next?

Manchester United are back in action on Wednesday when they host top-four rivals Tottenham at Old Trafford, with kick-off at 8.15pm.

Erik ten Hag's side then face another huge game on Saturday, when they travel to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea - live on Sky Sports - with kick-off at 5.30pm.

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Newcastle's next game is on Wednesday, with Everton visiting St James' Park - kick-off at 7.30pm.

The Magpies then face a trip to north London to take on Tottenham on Sunday October 23 - live on Sky Sports - with kick-off at 4.30pm.

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