Superb Newcastle knock holders Man Utd out of EFL Cup

Newcastle United claimed their second Old Trafford victory over Manchester United since 1972 to avenge their Carabao Cup final defeat at Wembley and pile the pressure on home manager Erik ten Hag.

Newcastle will travel to Stamford Bridge to take on fellow Premier League side Chelsea, who beat Blackburn 2-0 in the fourth round.

It was another desperate day for Manchester United and Ten Hag, who have lost eight of their opening 15 games for the first time since the 1962-63 season.

Coming just three days after they suffered another three-goal home humiliation at the hands of Manchester City, the home side’s weaknesses were again cruelly exposed.

Diogo Dalot was replaced at half-time following his failure to track Almiron’s right-wing burst for the opener.

Returning Brazilian midfielder Casemiro did not re-appear for the second-half either with Ten Hag evidently unimpressed by the former Real Madrid man.

Hall struck a fine second as he met Harry Maguire’s headed clearance with a first-time volley. Willock’s effort emulate Hall’s by finding the bottom corner after he had been allowed to run 30 yards unchecked before shooting after Sofyan Amrabat had lost possession on the halfway line.

In a week where the size of their kit has been questioned, Manchester United’s players could have done with shirts big enough to cover their heads as, for the second game running, they were booed off at the end of both halves.

Red Devils’ downward spiral gathers pace

Manchester United’s collapse in form since they beat Newcastle at Wembley in February to end a near six-year trophy drought has been stunning.

Ten Hag lost six of his first 40 games in charge up to that EFL Cup final success. They have lost 13 of 36 since. They have lost consecutive home matches by three goals or more for the first time since October 1962.

As was the case with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer two seasons ago, the downturn has been totally unexpected given his side finished third last season and reached the FA Cup final in addition to their trophy success.

Ten Hag has spent in excess of £350m over three transfer windows. Five of his signings started the game and six finished it. None emerged with any real credit, although it could be argued goalkeeper Andre Onana was blameless for all three Newcastle goals.

Casemiro before the break and Amrabat after it failed to plug gaps in midfield. Once again Mason Mount was anonymous.

The home side’s best chance was squandered when Anthony Martial appeared to pull out of a header, despite being barely six yards out in the centre of the goal, when he seemed to hear a call from Mount behind him. Mount failed to control and the opportunity disappeared.

Not that the issues enveloping Old Trafford are any concern of Newcastle, whose fans revelled in their opponents’ discomfort, chanting ‘You’ll be sacked in the morning’ and taunting over the number of empty red seats on show from fans leaving well before the final whistle.

Targett injury the only negative for Newcastle

The game could not have got off to a worse start for the visitors.

With five senior players out injured, plus Sandro Tonali ruled out for 10 months due to his gambling ban, Newcastle could ill afford any more personnel issues.

But after just two minutes Matt Targett went down with what seemed to be a pretty severe hamstring injury on the basis he could barely walk off the pitch such was the pain he was in.

Continuing was clearly out of the question and, as the English season heads towards its most congested point, Howe will now be fearing he will be without the services of Targett for a while.

At that point, which his options so limited, Howe must have feared the worst.

Instead, Almiron broke the deadlock, racing onto Tino Livramento’s cross-field pass to set Newcastle on their way to a memorable and thoroughly deserved victory.

At the end, Howe and his players saluted a 9,000-strong travelling support, whose backing was constant. But then, they had plenty to sing about.