"How on earth did he play 90 minutes", "He is finished" - Manchester United fans unhappy with star after 4-1 loss to Newcastle
A section of Manchester United fans online was unimpressed with Christian Eriksen’s performance in the Premier League game with Newcastle on Sunday (April 13). The Danish midfielder failed to put in a good shift, as the Red Devils were put to the sword 4-1 at St. James' Park.
It’s been a season to forget for Manchester United since Ruben Amorim took over the managerial reins last November. Having drawn 2-2 with Ligue 1 outfit Lyon in the Europa League quarterfinal first leg on Thursday (April 10), many expected a positive result from United on Sunday.
However, it was Newcastle who started on the front foot, as they had a goal disallowed for offside just two minutes into proceedings.
It was a temporary reprieve for United as the Magpies found a breakthrough in the 24th minute. Sandro Tonali put the Tyneside club ahead, volleying Alexander Isak’s lofted assist into the bottom corner.
The visitors picked themselves up and restored parity eight minutes before the break, courtesy of Alejandro Garnacho. However, it didn’t take long for Newcastle to restore their lead after the restart. A Tino Livramento low cross that went across United’s goal found Jacob Murphy, who released a cutback pass for Harvey Barnes to tap home (49').
Manchester United’s hope for an equalizer was thrown out the window when Noussair Mazraoui was dispossessed by Barnes, who then ran through the Red Devils’ defense to score a third for his side (64’).
Premier League debutant Altay Bayindir compounded United’s woes in the 77th minute. The Turkish goalkeeper attempted to make a shot clearance, but his effort went straight to Joelinton, who nodded the ball into the path of Bruno Guimaraes to power home a fourth (77').
While almost all Manchester United players had a game to forget, fans singled out Eriksen for criticism. The midfielder lost possession eight times, had zero shots, was dribbled past twice, and received a rating of 6.4, as per Sofascore.
After the game, fans called out the player on X (formerly Twitter) for his performance, with one writing:
‘‘Surely, And how on earth did Eriksen play 90 minutes 😒😒.''
Another tweeted:
‘‘On the plus side, only one more month until we never have to see Lindelof or Eriksen in a Utd shirt again. Shame It can't be said for more of them.''
‘‘2nd half was a disaster. With Joshua out, we're in soup. Onana has a second worst. Dalot is the wannabe Trent Alexander. Eriksen is finished, crystal clear! Hojlund is still crap! We're done mehn,'' @tifematt wrote.
‘‘I only fault Amorim for leaving Eriksen to play 90 minutes,'' @AttaAbraham chimed in.
‘‘🤣🤣🤣🤣. It would have been better to play a 17 year old than eriksen,'' @mychailblaise quipped.
Ruben Amorim says mistakes cost Manchester United against Newcastle
Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim believes his side’s thrashing by Newcastle was a result of the numerous mistakes during the match. He added that the Magpies were better and stronger than them.
Amorim told the media after the match (via the club’s website):
“We did a lot of mistakes and they were better than us, stronger than us. Suffering the second goal in the beginning of the second half hurt us a lot and then we did mistakes during the game that helped Newcastle to win the game.”
United have now equaled their most defeats in a Premier League season (14 in 2023-24). They sit in the 14th position on the league table with 38 points after 32 games.
