Tuanzebe boasts Newcastle only scored ‘when Man Utd weren’t there’

Joe Williams
Axel Tuanzebe Manchester United

Axel Tuanzebe says the only way Newcastle United were able to score against Manchester United was when they “weren’t really there”.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men slumped to a 1-0 loss at embattled Newcastle, where 19-year-old Matty Longstaff’s goal on his Premier League debut sent the visitors into a tailspin.

It is now 11 matches in all competitions since Manchester United last tasted victory on the road, with the side entering the international break 12th after managing two wins from their eight league games.

Despite that, Tuanzebe doesn’t think Newcastle posed many problems for the Red Devils’ defence and reckons they struggled to play through United.

“Yeah, you can see we shut them out for a long period of time,” Tuanzebe told MUTV.

“The only way they were able to score was a counter when we weren’t really there. The goal, it is what it is: a 20-yard shot, it wasn’t like they played through us or anything like that.

“We go back to the drawing board, the international break [is] now time for us to regroup. We believe in what we’re doing, in time it will come.

“Now it’s just that tough phase. Next game we look forward to is Liverpool. [We] definitely want to get a result in that game.”

On their next match against Liverpool, Tuanzebe said: “It’s always a big game. Through my academy stages, Liverpool is a must-win. It’s a brutal game. It wasn’t a tippy-tappy game; no matter what age group.

“Obviously coming here to the first team, I expect more of the same. It will be a game where we need to grind it out and stick together and produce a result.”