David de Gea: Made two good saves in the first half and could do little about the Newcastle goal. 6/10
Rafael: Still on the way back from injury but had a good energetic game and bombed forward as usual. 6/10
Jonny Evans: Had a solid game. 6/10
Nemanja Vidic: Defended well but I expected more from the captain, especially after going behind. Would liked to have seen him spurring the side on. 5/10
Patrice Evra: Decent game and got forward in the usual manner. An error led to the Newcastle goal.6/10
Adnan Januzaj: Back in the starting XI and was one of the more threatening members of the squad, but never quite made it happen 6/10
Phil Jones: Back in midfield after his suspension. Energetic but didn’t command the midfield as much as I would have liked, against Cabaye Anita and Tiote. 6/10
Tom Cleverley: Poor game for me. Went sideways and backwards so often and lost possession on many occasions. So much early potential in his career which seems to be stalling. 4/10
Nani: Reasonable game, was a real attacking threat early on, beating his man on several occasions, but was also lost the ball at times in typical Nani inconsistent fashion. 6/10
Robin van Persie: Back following injury but had a relatively quiet game, however he did have a lack of service up top. Scored but rightly ruled out for offside. 5/10
Javier Hernandez: Energetic and man of the match for me. Chased everything, pressurised the Newcastle defence and goalkeeper throughout. Fed on scraps up front and had little chances. 7/10
Substitutes:
Wilfred Zaha: First appearance in the Premier League but didn’t really impress after replacing Nani down the left. 5/10
Anderson: Replaced the ineffective Cleverley, added slightly more movement into midfield but didn’t do much better. 5/10
Antonio Valencia: Came on at right back but never really drove forward as much as I’d hoped. Has played a lot of games lately and maybe was a but jaded? 5/10
Once again, we lose ground on our rivals but the title is looking a long way away now. Need a win to put confidence levels back up, but the the overriding concern for me was the lack of desire to get back into the game after going 1-0 down. This wasn’t isolated to today, but on Wednesday too. The performances have been inept lately and we slide further into mid table obscurity. Next up, Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday in a game we must not lose to ensure we win our group, and ironically maintain our unbeaten record in Europe this season.
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