Manchester: Paul Pogba marked his comeback with a goal and an assist as Manchester United came from behind to thrash Newcastle United 4-1 at the Old Trafford here Saturday and stay on Manchester City’s tail.
Sidelined since mid-September by a hamstring injury, France midfielder Pogba made a decisive return as Jose Mourinho’s side restored the eight-point gap that separates them from Premier League leaders City. United remain second, a point above Chelsea, who climbed above Tottenham into third place.
“We can only play Manchester City twice in a season,” United manager Mourinho told BT Sport. “In those games, we will try to take points. Outside of those fixtures, we are not in control.”
In addition to Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic received a rapturous reception from United’s fans when he came on as a substitute following his recovery from a serious knee injury.
“The return of the injured players was nice, especially in Zlatan’s case, after such a dramatic injury,” said Mourinho. “To see him back was a great emotion.”
Dwight Gayle had given Newcastle the lead, before Pogba set up Anthony Martial for the equaliser and scored one goal himself, with Chris Smalling and Romelu Lukaku notching the other two.
This was the first time that Marcus Rashford, Martial and Lukaku have started a game together, so it suggested an attacking line-up for United.
But after a disjointed opening few minutes it was Newcastle that took the lead. DeAndre Yedlin did fine work down the right, reached the byline and cut it back to Gayle in the area, and he became the first opposition player to score in the league at Old Trafford this season as he guided his shot in off the post.
Victor Lindelof continued his unconvincing start to life at United by slipping over and giving Gayle time to pick his spot, with a couple more Newcastle players queuing up if he didn’t fancy it.
Nine minutes before the break, Pogba shimmied and clipped over a perfect cross from the right, and Martial rose at the back post to head home for the equaliser.
United then took control, and went ahead in the injury time. Ashley Young skimmed a cross from deep on the left to the far post, where Smalling evaded a pretty weak challenge from Florian Lejeune to head in.
They increased their lead eight minutes after the break when Lukaku crossed from the right, Rashford delicately cushioned a header into the six-yard box and Pogba’s perfectly timed run allowed him the simplest of finishes.
Romelu Lukaku added a fourth, swapping passes with Juan Mata and thrashing home to end a seven-game goal drought.
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