Newcastle 1 Manchester United 0: More St James' Park woe for Jose Mourinho as Martin Dubravka stars for Magpies

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Tom Doyle11 February 2018

Jose Mourinho remains winless at St James' Park as Newcastle United shocked Manchester United with a 1-0 Premier League victory on Sunday.

Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubrovka was in inspired form to keep out the likes of Anthony Martial and Ashley Young, while Matt Ritchie scored his first goal of the season after a Chris Smalling error to seal a key win for Rafa Benitez's Magpies.

The result means United end the week 16 points behind league leaders Manchester City, and the Red Devils will now have to concentrate on finishing in the top four rather than chasing down Pep Guardiola's men.

Both teams were short of quality in the first 45 minutes, with Paul Pogba sloppy on the ball and carrying what appeared to be a slight injury from early after kick-off.

Jonjo Shelvey drew a fine save from David De Gea, while his opposite number Dubravka made a superb save from Anthony Martial after Nemanja Matic found the French forward with a fine through-ball to split the Magpies' defence.

Alexis Sanchez seemed the only visiting player capable of keeping the ball under control for extended periods of time, with Jesse Lingard and Ashley Young struggling to find their touch - though Romelu Lukaku showed good strength to link up with Sanchez on numerous occasions.

Getty Images

United began the second half by putting immediate pressure on Newcastle, with Sanchez again lively - and only a fantastic block from Florian Lejeune denied the Chilean a certain goal as he delayed a finish after rounding Dubravka following a fine pass from Lukaku 54 minutes in.

But it was Newcastle who drew first blood with 25 minutes remaining, and it all came from a Smalling dive - and inside his own half.

Smalling contrived to pick up a booking for simulation after going down as Shelvey looked set to challenge him inside United's half.

From the set-piece, Pogba - clearly struggling with an injury - failed to challenge for the back-post header, with the ball falling to Ritchie in acres of space to finish low past De Gea for his first goal of the season.

Getty Images

Mourinho responded immediately by withdrawing Pogba and Lingard for Juan Mata and Michael Carrick, and Young drew another fine save from Dubravka.

Martial then saw two efforts cleared off the line in quick succession as the forward tried to make amends for his earlier miss, but Newcastle hung on as Dubravka made a last-gasp save deep into injury time to ensure Mourinho remains without a win at St James' Park in seven visits.

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