NEWCASTLE, England: Edinson Cavani came off the bench to salvage a point for Manchester United from a sloppy display in a 1-1 draw at Newcastle in the Premier League on Monday.
Playing its first game in 16 days after coronavirus cases in the squad led to two games being postponed, United was outplayed in the first half and Allan Saint-Maximin gave Newcastle the lead in the seventh minute following a swift break after Raphael Varane was dispossessed.
Cavani entered as a halftime substitute, injected some urgency and pressing into Uniteds attacking play, and scored an equalizer in the 71st minute by poking home a rebound after his initial shot was blocked.
Newcastle, which hit the post in the final minutes through substitute Dwight Gayle, was denied just a second win of the campaign and stayed in next-to-last place, while seventh-place United missed a chance to jump to fifth with a display that showed the team still has plenty of work to do under recently hired coach Ralf Rangnick.
His team was so off the pace in the first half that Rangnick opted to make two substitutions at half time, with Fred and Mason Greenwood coming off.
Any of the outfield players could easily have been replaced.
Bruno Fernandes was often seen waving his hands in the air, complaining at the referee and his teammates. Marcus Rashford looked lost out on the right wing. Varane and Harry Maguire were being hounded in possession at center back.
United, back playing after having games against Brighton and Brentford called off, was lucky to go to the break only 1-0 down. Then the visitors saw Saint-Maximin squander a brilliant chance from close range in the 47th minute, mishitting a finish to allow David De Gea to claw away the ball when he should have been well beaten.
From then on, United had the better of the chances, with Cavani shooting wide with the goal at his mercy before eventually equalizing at the second attempt after being picked out by Diogo Dalots cross.
Newcastle lost forwards Callum Wilson and Saint-Maximin to injuries, while Fernandes collected a fifth yellow card of the season and will miss United’s next game, against Burnley on Thursday.
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