Newcastle United 0-1 Manchester United: 5 Talking Points

Ashley Young’s late winner gave Manchester United only their fourth away win of the season. Thanks to their win, United stayed in fourth place and condemned Newcastle to their sixth home defeat of the season. Although they didn’t have much of the ball, the home side looked threatening on the break and should have had a penalty in the first half.In the end, they were made to pay for not taking their chances as Wayne Rooney’s never say die attitude forced a mistake from the excellent Tim Krul and led to Young calmly slotting home from close range. Here are the major talking points from the game:

#1 Assistant, not referee should take the blame

Referees are often given an insane amount of stick that it is a surprise to see that people still want to referee. Almost all the time, the vitriol from the players, managers and fans are directed at the referee, while the assistants are left scot free. Although Anthony Taylor didn't really have a bad game, his assistant Peter Kirkup certainly did.

Whether it was not giving a clear penalty in the first half for Newcastle or raising his flag for offside on a couple of occasions when Rooney was quite clearly onside, Kirkup certainly had a shocker. But once again, it is likely that the referee is at the wrong end of the abuse, when it is quite clearly his assistant, who made all the wrong calls.