Jose Mourinho singled out Alexis Sanchez and Anthony Martial for their profligacy in Manchester United’s surprise defeat to Newcastle United on Sunday. The Red Devils are in danger of being sucked back into the top-four battle after Matt Ritchie’s strike secured a 1-0 victory for the hosts, though United had plenty of chances to level the scores and even win the match. Newcastle were indebted to on-loan goalkeeper Martin Dubravka, who made a number of important saves, though United wasted several gilt-edged opportunities.
Sanchez managed to round the Slovakian goalkeeper but bewilderingly did not shoot into an unguarded net, while Martial had two efforts from six yards out that were both blocked in quick succession. And after the match, Mourinho – who had been full of praise for Newcastle’s resistance – admitted that his side had lacked cutting edge. Asked what was missing from United’s performance, Mourinho retorted: ‘Score a goal. ‘We had some [chances] with the score at 0-0. Alexis [Sanchez] had an open goal and then the countless opportunities of the last 20-25 minutes. The double [miss] of Martial is incredible in the last minute.’
He continued: ‘We could be here for 10 hours and we wouldn’t score a goal – that’s the feeling. When you see the amount of chances we lost, starting in the first half when Anthony was facing the keeper. ‘In the second half, we had Alexis with an open goal and then we had an accumulation of situations where it’s incredible that we didn’t score. ‘But I think we also have to say the goal is a mistake. A lateral free-kick which travelled a long distance to the box – we lose the first ball in the air because we didn’t compete in the air and then we lost the second ball on the floor and from that moment, you could say it’s about Newcastle luck – but it’s also fair to say Newcastle fight.’
