Reuters
London, August 22: 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 here Saturday.
Wayne Rooney had an early goal ruled out for offside as United 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 but failed to do so.
“It was a very important result for us,” said Newcastle defender Fabricio Coloccini. “It’s very hard to play at Old Trafford because they have a lot of possession. We were told to defend as well as possible and we did really well.”
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.
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.
