Eddie Howe admits his Newcastle team are at their best when causing havoc, and there’s no one better than Will Osla in black and white to cause it.
The maverick Denmark Under-21 striker is unpredictable to say the least. I don’t think anyone, especially Osla himself, is entirely sure what he’ll do at any given moment.
But here he came off the bench to score a virtuosic 90th-minute winner for the home side, who were reduced to 10 men after Jacob Ramsey’s controversial 45th-minute sending off for what appeared to be a dive.
Bruno Fernandes enjoyed a fine game in Michael Carrick’s midfield, but he could not completely prevent Ruben Amorim’s interim successor from leading Manchester United to their first Premier League defeat at the same ground where he cheered on Newcastle at Gallowgate End as a child.
If title negotiations at Old Trafford are anything to go by, Manchester United remain in third place, 12 points behind Howe’s 12th-placed side, who ended a painful run of three consecutive home league defeats.
Mr Carrick said he was “deeply disappointed”. “I’m not happy with the way we played. It hurts to say Newcastle deserved to win. There are no excuses. The quality wasn’t good enough.”
Howe did not object. “Will has given the supporters here a great moment and I hope this is a turning point for him,” said the Newcastle manager, who watched Osla suffer a disastrous defeat to Qarabag in the Champions League here last week. “And this is a big moment for us. We showed that we can be competitive against any team. Whether it was 11 or 10, we deserved the win.”
Matheus Cunha, Brian Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko were three names that featured prominently on Howe’s shopping list last summer, and the trio now feature on Manchester United’s team sheet. Importantly, they all prove to be peripheral figures.
Indeed, with Sandro Tonali coming into his own in Newcastle’s central midfield and Lewis Hall moving forward seamlessly from left-back, the visiting side, with Carrick at the helm, were on the back foot, arriving with 19 points out of a possible 21.
Nevertheless, Fernandes ensured that by the end of the first half his team had recovered to the point where Aaron Ramsdale (who was preferred to Nick Pope and had impressed with the home goal) was required to make good saves from Koby Mainu and then Cunha.
However, Sene Lamence was brought down by Anthony Gordon’s latest penalty conversion in first-half stoppage time.
Gordon, Howe’s recent first-choice centre-forward, tumbled off Fernandes’ knee after being viciously poked in the back of the thigh. The England winger, who had previously been endowed with Harry Maguire’s brilliance, delighted in driving his kicks straight down the middle.
The penalty was given after Ramsey was shown a second yellow card for simulation. “I thought it was incredibly harsh,” Howe said. “Jacob didn’t dive.”
Howe’s men had developed a terrible habit of conceding goals soon after taking the lead, and they were at it again before Peter Banks’ half-time.
Sure enough, in the controversial ninth minute of stoppage time, Fernandes curled a free-kick that Casemiro headed home, but it proved to be too good for Ramsdale.
Coach Howe, who understandably believed that nine minutes of extra time was too much, responded by making the game more direct and directing play to force his guests to play long balls. Meanwhile, Fernandes’ attempts to unlock Newcastle’s defense were marred by his sometimes hopeless frustration at Mbeumo and Cunha’s apparent inability to operate on his wavelength.
Fernandes produced almost all of the best visiting moments, with Ramsdale making a great save from Lenny Yolo’s header from one of his prompts. This time another good save from Joshua Zirkzee followed, and Osla, who replaced Gordon, immediately scored his first goal since September.
Wildcard Howe barely made it onto the pitch, chased down a long ball in his own half, expertly kept the ball in play as he cut inside, past Tyrell Malasia and swerved imperiously to fire a shot beyond Lamence.
The goalkeeper was slow to see it because Maguire’s body was blocking his view, but the finish was of such high quality that it suddenly makes sense why Eintracht Frankfurt made a £30m bid for Osla’s talent last year.
