United View: United demolished by Newcastle ahead of massive second leg fixture

This current Manchester United side is painfully mediocre, toothless in attack and prone to making costly errors leading to a goal. 

As this season painfully approaches its conclusion, the Reds will likely finish with their worst league tally since the late 80s and their European dreams hang in the balance.

United have not been heavily beaten by many teams since Ruben Amorim’s arrival, but on Sunday they were battered by a relentless Newcastle side.

It was like the opposite of the reverse fixture back in December when United were beaten 2-0, this time United were okay in the first half and capitulated in the second.

The big talking point going into this game was the exclusion of Andre Onana following his calamitous night in Lyon making two errors in the 2-2 draw with the French side. 

The Cameroon international was dropped entirely from the side as Altay Bayindir came in to make his Premier League debut.

It was a shock but also came as no surprise. 

Onana has made numerous errors since his arrival at Old Trafford two seasons ago with Amorim likely assessing his options ahead of the return leg, although he said this was for his goalkeeper to ‘disconnect’ from football.

For Bayindir this was an opportunity to show he should be considered as the preferred choice until the end of the season, however, his mistake for the fourth Newcastle goal – where he was caught playing it out from the back – will do little to fill Amorim with confidence.

How Onana will respond to this is unforeseen, but with United now experiencing a crisis of confidence in their goalkeeping unit, it will be interesting to see if they try to bring in some fresh faces in the summer, or whether they will move on either Onana or Bayindir.

Perhaps what was even worse than the result was seeing Joshua Zirkzee hobble off clutching his hamstring shortly into the second half. 

The Dutchman was infamously subbed off in the first half against Newcastle back in December, but since then he’s fought back and had been steadily improving.

With United already lacking options in attack, hopefully it isn’t one that keeps him out for the remainder of the campaign. 

Thankfully Mason Mount has slowly started to build up his minutes, however as a player who has been significantly affected by injuries during his time at United, it’s uncertain whether he can be trusted to supplement Zirkzee’s absence.

If there were any positives to take away from Sunday, it was seeing Harry Amass get his first start. 

The 18-year-old had only made a brief cameo against Leicester prior to the trip to St. James’ Park and provided a decent display in tough conditions. 

He’s certainly one for the future and hopefully he can continue to rack up minutes for the Reds.

Amass’ inclusion was possibly an indication that Amorim had one eye on Thursday, with Harry Maguire, Casemiro and Patrick Dorgu all named on the bench. 

It’s obvious that the Europa League is the club’s main priority at this moment in time, and he’ll be hoping that his side can bounce back quickly after this 4-1 defeat.

It goes without saying that this is the most important game of United’s season, a win will put them into another semi-final with the very real possibility of going on to win the competition. 

A defeat would effectively end their season, with little to play for in the Premier League.

With home advantage, United should be able to get the job done against Lyon. 

They played well in Lyon, however conceding that late equaliser will fill the French side with hope ahead of the return leg.