Newcastle United latest news: Eddie Howe’s side defeated Manchester United 2-1 at St James’ Park in the Premier League on Wednesday night.
Michael Carrick has issued a brutally honest verdict following his side’s 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United at St James’ Park.
The Red Devils played 45 minutes against ten men following Jacob Ramsey’s red card on the stroke of half-time but were unable to find a breakthrough. They were then punished for their bluntness in attack when William Osula slammed home a stunning solo goal to seal all three points for Eddie Howe’s side.
Carrick hadn’t seen his side lose since replacing Ruben Amorim as interim manager before Osula’s curler sent St James’ Park into ecstasy. That defeat meant that the Red Devils couldn’t capitalise on a slip up by Aston Villa and move clear of them in the Premier League table.
Michael Carrick reacts to Newcastle United defeat
As always with games between Newcastle United and Manchester United, Wednesday night’s game was played at a furious pace with both sides getting stuck into the physical battle. Despite being a man ahead for the whole of the second half, Carrick’s side were unable to make their numerical advantage count with the former Middlesbrough manager blaming a lack of quality from his side for their defeat: “We are not happy the way we played tonight.
“The way the game panned out we had it in our hands largely but credit to Newcastle and they way they approached it, we knew it would be tough but we navigated the game to a position where we could kick on but we didn’t. Bitterly disappointed really.
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“I don’t think it was the 10 men, we just didn’t play good enough. We can’t make excuses for that. We all take responsibility for that. It was just the quality of the performance, it wasn’t character or wanting to win, it’s easy to throw that just because you don’t win a game of football
“Newcastle deserved to win tonight, it hurts me to say that. That is how it was. We need to get back to work and be better for the next game.
“We’ve lost one game, we haven’t played well enough but in the grand scheme of things we are in a decent position. Tonight hurts but we will be better for the next one.
“You have to get back at it, work hard and do the things we did to win the games we’ve won. We can do that, we are a good team, tonight wasn’t for us.
“We have to learn from it and get better for it. We had a lot of praise lately and the boys deserve it, this doesn’t change how we approach the next game. We’ve got everything to play for.”
Carrick and his team now have a week-and-a-half off as cup and European action takes centre stage before they return to action with a Premier League match against Villa on Sunday 15 March. Newcastle United, meanwhile, will play three games in three different competitions before the Red Devils kick another ball.