In another example of not being able to predict what will happen in the English Premier League this season, Newcastle United and Manchester United took a point in a terrifically entertaining 3-3 draw. This after both teams have been struggling to find the back of the net and been playing rather boring soccer the past few months.
The game started rather quickly as Manchester United won a penalty. Chancel Mbemba was called for a rather controversial handball and Wayne Rooney put Man United on the board early. Many consider Mbemba’s handball to be harsh and shouldn’t have been called. Seeing the arm extended, I probably would’ve called it but I can see why people wouldn’t call that. It definitely was a judgement call from the officials.
Manchester United made it 2-0 as Ander Herrera provided a perfect pass to Wayne Rooney. And placing the ball to Jesse Lingard, Lingard put it away and United enjoyed a two goal lead…for a couple minutes.
After Newcastle got on the board just a few minutes after Man United scored their seconds, they came back in the second half and won a penalty of their own. Aleksandar Mitrovic got taken down by Chris Smalling and Mitrovic equalized for 2-2 in the 67th minute.
But the best goals were saved for last. Both Manchester United and Newcastle United had stunning goal of the week caliber goals to close off this great game. First, Manchester United took the lead 3-2 in the 79th minute after Wayne Rooney rocketed a heavy touch from Paul Dummett. It capped off a game in which Rooney channeled his younger self, scoring twice and providing an assist.
But Newcastle didn’t give up and they were rewarded at the end. Dummett saw what Rooney did and replicated that. Even though his shot took a deflection off of Smalling, it was a powerful shot that was bound to go into the back of the net. In the end, both teams put forth a great game in which both teams earned a point.
As a result, Manchester United dropped to 6th place in the Premier League table after West Ham won against Bournemouth 3-1. Because Crystal Palace lost to Aston Villa 1-0 today, Manchester United will stay in 6th until the weekend derby game against Liverpool. Newcastle remains in 18th but moves to a point behind Swansea to try and get out of the relegation zone. An intriguing twist to that battle is that Jonjo Shelvey was sold from Swansea to Newcastle for £12 million. Will that prove to bite Swansea or will both teams remain in the Premier League?
