Analysis: Newcastle

Rafa Benitez set his Newcastle side up in a 4-4-1-1 formation, slipping back to a tight 4-4-2 system in the defensive phase. Ayoze Perez, who joined Dwight Gayle in the first line of defence, was tasked with putting pressure on Nemanja Matic and the opposition centre-backs by roaming among the defenders. The Magpies marked the possible receivers of the ball and drove them back towards their own goal, with Gayle closing down David de Gea to put pressure on his distribution.

Newcastle pressed the player in possession at all times inside their own half, preventing the midfield pair of Matic and Paul Pogba from easily exchanging passes. Jonjo Shelvey and Mohamed Diame worked hard to ensure that neither Pogba nor Jesse Lingard could receive the ball in between the lines. Shelvey was the standout player, providing effective attacking options and defensive support throughout the game.

In their build-up, new goalkeeper Martin Dubravka favoured direct passes into the Newcastle attackers. Perez and Diame immediately pushed forward in these situations, trying to compete in the air so that Gayle could try to penetrate the last line of defence with his breakaway runs, or hold up the play until support appeared from midfield. They tried to filter through balls in behind the United defence or to switch the play right to the offensively minded full-back DeAndre Yedlin, who would look for Matt Ritchie and Shelvey to make late runs into the penalty area. Their aim was to create a shooting chance as quickly as possible without sacrificing their structure, or to win a set-piece opportunity – from which the eventual winner came.

On the counter-attack, the hosts looked to take advantage of gaps in the United defence after breaking through their first line of pressure. Most of these moves centred on Shelvey, of course, who forced his way in behind the opposition midfield in order to spearhead the attack.