A MEMORABLE rearguard action and a controversial penalty helped Newcastle United to a 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford in the Barclays Premier League yesterday. A fluke goal by Javier Hernandez put the hosts ahead early in the second half before Newcastle levelled through a Demba Ba penalty awarded after Rio Ferdinand appeared to tackle Hatem Ben Arfa cleanly.
The hosts threw the kitchen sink at Newcastle from that point on, hitting the woodwork, missing multiple chances, forcing some superb saves from Tim Krul, being denied by two goal-line clearances and seeing a last-gasp Hernandez tap-in chalked off for a marginal offside – all after Toon winger Jonas Gutierrez was sent off for a second bookable offence.
It was a remarkable end to an entertaining game and one that sees Sir Alex Ferguson’s side move four points behind leaders Manchester City, while Toon remain fourth.
An even and entertaining first half saw both sides create some decent chances without truly testing either keeper.
Indeed the only real save made was made by David De Gea on 11 minutes, the Spaniard getting down smartly to keep out Ba’s first-time volley after he was put through by a wonderful scooped pass from Ben Arfa.
The visitors, bright and breezy on the counterattack, had another half-chance when former Manchester United winger Gabriel Obertan, returning to Old Trafford with a point to prove, put in good crosses that were well blocked by Nemanja Vidic, although follow-up volleys by Ryan Taylor and Yohan Cabaye were too close to De Gea.
The hosts, meanwhile, had some opportunities of their own, although poor final balls in the last third reduced the impact of their direct, swashbuckling style.
Those opportunities should have been better dispatched too, as Hernandez twice mis-hit his finishes after he was played in by Nani, firing over just before the half-hour and then into the ground just before the break.
The best chance of the half fell between those two opportunities when Ryan Giggs flicked his finish wide of goal and of the Mexican after a wonderful dipping cross from advancing full-back Fabio found the Welshman unmarked from six yards: Krul appeared to get a touch, but Giggs should have scored.
Another flashpoint was an incident that saw Ben Arfa booked for racing a good 20 yards to confront a quiet Wayne Rooney after the England striker’s attempt to shoot following a thundering Fabricio Coloccini challenge on the edge of the box looked suspiciously like his infamous kick on Montenegro defender Miodrag Dzudovic.
Early in the second half, the home side took the lead in hugely fortunate circumstances. A weak Rooney free-kick rebounded off the wall but landed back at his feet: he unleashed an excellent volley that was blocked by Steven Taylor just ahead of the line.
Unfortunately for the Newcastle centre-back, his clearance flew into the face of an unaware Hernandez, flying in past the wrong-footed Krul for a 49th-minute lead.
The hosts appeared to be sparked alive by that slice of luck as they immediately played some excellent football, tearing Newcastle apart as Fabio fired inches over, Rooney fluffed a free header from Young’s corner and Young himself put just wide after unleashing a rasping drive from the edge of the box.
But Toon rallied, Coloccini forced a great stop from De Gea and – in the phase of play that followed the corner – the visitors drew level in highly-controversial circumstances.
With Ben Arfa dribbling into the box from the right, Ferdinand slid in to tackle the Frenchman. The veteran defender appeared to time the challenge perfectly, clipping the ball away for what should have been a corner but – after consulting with his linesman – Mike Jones pointed to the spot.
United were furious and replays showed them to have a point, but Ba was the model of cool as he stroked the spot-kick low into the right corner, sending De Gea the wrong way.
Holding a strong sense of injustice, United went strongly for the win but somehow failed to find a second.
Rooney fired over after Nani played him in, Steven Taylor blocked Patrice Evra’s finish with a fine block, while Young was denied a tap-in from Nani’s low ball by a sliding block from the seemingly psychotically-driven Steven Taylor – Jones somehow pointed for a goal kick.