Manchester United’s 100 percent start to the Premier League season ended when they were held to a goalless draw against Newcastle United at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Wayne Rooney had an early goal ruled out for offside as United, 1-0 winners in their opening two league games, dominated but it was Newcastle who went closest to scoring in the first half when Aleksandar Mitrovic hit the crossbar.
Substitutes Javier Hernandez and Antonio Valencia then had opportunities to snatch a late goal for the home team who are top of the table with seven points.
“It was a very important result for us,” said defender Fabricio Coloccini as Newcastle ended a run of seven successive away league defeats. “We worked really hard.
“It’s very hard to play at Old Trafford because they have a lot of possession,” he told BT Sport. “We were told to defend as well as possible and we did really well.”
United captain Rooney has made a mediocre start to the season but began brightly against Newcastle, having a sixth-minute goal chalked off.
Juan Mata was twice denied by goalkeeper Tim Krul and Memphis Depay was a constant threat but United nearly conceded against the run of play when Newcastle’s close-season signing Mitrovic rattled the bar with a thunderous header.
After their high-octane start, United finished the half on the back foot as Newcastle’s Ayoze Perez saw his shot squirm narrowly past the post.
FRUSTRATED FIGURE
United manager Louis van Gaal cut a frustrated figure at the break and his side did little to alleviate his discontent in the second.
The hosts handed a first league start to World Cup winner Bastian Schweinsteiger and the German was solid yet unspectacular before being substituted in the 59th minute.
The game burst into life with a frantic final 10 minutes as Hernandez was denied by a fine Krul save before man-of-the-match Coloccini produced a superb block to thwart Valencia.
Chris Smalling headed against the post for United while Papiss Cisse was just wide after a counter-attack by Newcastle who have two points from three matches.
Later on Saturday, Leicester City take their 100 percent record into a home game with Tottenham Hotspur, Stoke City visit Norwich City and Crystal Palace entertain Aston Villa.
Sunderland and promoted Bournemouth, occupying the bottom two places in the table, search for their first points against Swansea City and West Ham United respectively.
