Newcastle vs Man United – famous moments ahead of crunch Premier League clash

Manchester United and Newcastle United matches used to be an event as one of the highlights of a Premier League season.

Of course, we go back to the mid-1990s, when both teams were furiously fighting for the Premier League title and Sir Alex Ferguson and Kevin Keegan were facing each other.

Happy days indeed, but the two sides don’t need just a title race to deliver some classic Premier League moments.

Over the years they have produced classics, but the match had not been so important for a long time, since Eddie Howe’s men host the Red Devils in a great weekend around the fight to reach the top four and a place in the Champions League.

So as Newcastle United vs Manchester United becomes a game of immense importance once again, Sportsmail takes a look back at some of the Premier League’s most memorable moments.

Kevin Keegan goes for the two barrels

Kevin Keegan’s tirade at the end of the 1995-96 season when Newcastle lost control of the title race is arguably the most famous managerial interview in Premier League history.

After beating Leeds 1-0 at the end of April, Keegan bristled at Sir Alex Ferguson’s comments about teams taking it easy on Newcastle ahead of Toon’s games against Nottingham Forest and Tottenham at the end of the season. .

Keegan’s crescendo of ‘We’re still fighting for this title and he’s [Ferguson] I’ve got to go to Middlesbrough and get something and I’m telling you, honestly, I’d love to see us beat them, I love it!’ It’s the stuff of legend… but it almost never happened.

A month before was the key moment. Newcastle, who at one point held a 12-point lead at the summit, played a home game with the Red Devils in a pivotal game in the title race.

In the match on 4 March, the Magpies squandered great scoring opportunities until Eric Cantona’s second-half goal lifted Man Utd to a famous 1–0 win, cutting Newcastle’s lead to just one point despite that Keegan’s team still had a game to play.

Had Newcastle won that night, Keegan’s post-match Leeds interview a few weeks later would have been in the context of his team needing a point from two games to claim a famous title. Hard to see how it would have been so explosive.

The tirade also had the opposite effect. While Man Utd won 3-0 at Middlesbrough on the final day, Newcastle stumbled to draws with Forest and Spurs, allowing the Red Devils to claim the title on four points.

Newcastle turn on style with five stars showing

Kevin Keegan’s response to losing the title on the final day of the 1995-96 season was to do the Kevin Keegan thing imaginable and break the world transfer record for signing a striker.

Not content with having a cream of attacking talent in Les Ferdinand, David Ginola and Faustino Asprilla, Keegan raided Blackburn Rovers for England international Alan Shearer paying £15m. A lot of money at the time.

Keegan’s Newcastle team weren’t called ‘The Entertainers’ for nothing and on a Sunday afternoon in October they put on one of the greatest performances of all time.

First-half goals from Darren Peacock, a typical Ginola stunner, and second-half goals from Shearer and Ferdinand had Newcastle fans drooling… and that was before Philippe Albert’s audacious strike from 25 yardage will leave Red Devils goaltender Peter Schmeichel looking more than a little. silly to make it 5-0.

For full time, Newcastle were top of the league after a seventh successive win, three points clear of their nearest rivals and five points clear of Man Utd.

However, at the end of the season, once again Man Utd celebrated a title and Newcastle left as runners-up, Keegan having already left as manager.

Keane lashes out at Shearer

When the teams met at St James’ Park in September 2001, Newcastle had long since lost their status as England’s top tier side.

However, they had started the season well and went into their home clash with the Red Devils knowing that a win over Man Utd would put them ahead of their old title rivals with one game less and stay on track with the pioneers. it’s from the season. Bolton Wanderers and Leeds United.

However, no one remembers that context. Even the seven-goal thriller doesn’t get much attention these days: it’s about Roy Keane lashing out at Alan Shearer in the final moments of the game.

Before it came down to it, Sir Bobby Robson’s side had put on an incredible display by taking the lead twice in the first half on either side of a Ruud van Nistelrooy equalizer through goals from Laurent Robert and Rob Lee.

Nikos Dabizas made it 3-1 in the star of the second half only for Ryan Giggs and Juan Veron to help shoot up the Red Devils level just after the hour mark.

But a Wes Brown own goal eight minutes from time restored the lead to the home side and they held on to 4-3 going into stoppage time when football became a sideshow.

Keane, furious to learn that his team was minutes away from a costly defeat, took a taunting throw-in to Shearer, who seconds earlier had prevented him from taking a short one, only for the Toon captain to barely react.

That seemed to infuriate Keane further, and after a strike that only managed to get a yellow card out of the referee’s hand, he was sent off for violent conduct.

Scholes star with hat-trick in 6-2 win

After Keane’s moment of madness, Man Utd did not return to Newcastle until April 2003, when on the road to the Premier League title this time they let the football do the talking.

The match began with a Newcastle goal from Jermaine Jeans and ended with another one minute from time by Shola Ameobi.

The problem for the Magpies was the middle part or at least a crazy half hour of playing time once it passed the 30 minute mark.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer equalized on 32 minutes and two minutes later Ferguson’s men took the lead through Paul Scholes. Scholes doubled his and United’s lead on 38 minutes before Ryan Giggs scored a minute before half-time to stun Robson’s side 4-1 down before half time.

After half-time United kept their foot on the gas with Scholes scoring his hat-trick before Ruud van Nistelrooy’s penalty put United 6–1 up before an hour was up.

The match effectively ended Newcastle’s hopes of winning the title, as while sitting in third place, they fell nine points behind Ferguson’s side with just five games to play.

smart boxing chicharito

A great moment in the 2012-13 title race, as this result gave Manchester United a large margin of error going into the second part of the season.

Newcastle didn’t get much in the way of the opposition on paper at Old Trafford, at least until James Perch opened the scoring for the visitors in the fourth minute on Boxing Day.

Jonny Evans then equalized, only for the defender to score an own goal to restore the Magpies’ lead.

Patrice Evra equalized again on 58 minutes only for Papiss Cisse to give Newcastle the lead for the third time 10 minutes later.

Robin van Persie equalized again with 19 minutes remaining before Javier Hernandez turned up in the last minute to seal three big points for the Red Devils.

With the title and local rivals Man City losing 1-0 at Sunderland, it allowed Ferguson’s side to open a seven-point gap at the top.

Sánchez saves Mourinho

It wasn’t often that Alexis Sánchez came to his best at Old Trafford (being cruel was usually the opposite), but he produced an impressive display from the bench to see off the Toon and save José Mourinho’s job as manager.

Both teams were desperate for points ahead of the October 2018 meeting, with United sitting 12th on just 10 points after seven games, while Newcastle were winless and second from bottom on two points.

However, within 10 minutes, Mourinho’s team trailed 2-0 at Old Trafford thanks to goals from Kenedy and Yoshinori Muto.

And that was the case until minute 67, when José sent Alexis Sánchez to try to save a sinking ship. Three minutes later Juan Mata closed the gap and at 76′ Anthony Martial equalized.

United then surged forward in search of a winner and it finally came in the last minute with Sánchez grabbing a well deserved goal from close range.

Unfortunately for Mourinho it was just a stay of execution, as he was sacked just two months after the defeat at Liverpool. Sánchez never scored a Premier League goal again.