Update: Ruben Amorim criticises Manchester United players over reaction to Newcastle goal News

Man United lost their 14th Premier League game of the season at Newcastle in a 4-1 thumping days before their Europa League quarter-final second leg.

Ruben Amorim accused his Manchester United players of collapsing in the second half of their 4-1 Premier League defeat to Newcastle.

Newcastle scored three goals in 28 minutes to inflict a 14th league loss on United this season, their joint-worst in the Premier League era.

United dropped to 14th in the table as their goal difference is now -7 and worse than 13th-placed Everton’s. United are certain to end the campaign with their lowest points tally in the Premier League era.

“Yeah, when we suffer the second goal in the beginning of the second half we went down and we need to be better in these moments,” Amorim said, “we need to control it.

“They are already a really, really good team but the mistakes we made during the game helped the team to win confidence and win the game.

“We need to accept that (the lowest points tally) and to move forward and try to do things so much better in the future so we don’t have this kind of season. And then you can see some goals: they were doing high pressure and we lose the possession in some moments and some spaces that we cannot lose the possession.

“So we need to improve in a lot of things and our position is a reflection of our performances this season.”

Amorim admitted he started to prioritise United’s Europa League quarter-final second leg against Lyon on Thursday when Joshua Zirkzee suffered an apparent hamstring injury in the 55th minute. Amorim substituted Alejandro Garnacho at the same time amid a shortage of match-fit forwards.

The United coach also stressed he did not regret the five changes he made to the starting XI, a clear indication he was already preparing for the return leg with Lyon.

“No, nothing,” he replied when asked if he regretted his line-up, “because we did mistakes and they were better. Even if we put a different XI we don’t know the result.

“But we had to make choices, we played three days ago. You can see with Josh, he was fresh but he had a problem, so sometimes we need to make choices and we don’t know the result even with a different XI. I was waiting for 60 minutes, more or less, but then with one stop I was getting a little bit, not afraid, but to try to avoid more problems.

“It is really difficult to look at the best things. The best thing is to focus on the next one. Analyse this one, but it is really hard to be here after this result and try to see.

“Maybe in a few days I will watch the game and try to take that but in this moment it is really hard to have any feeling of a good feeling about the game.”

Amorim refused to confirm if he will recall Andre Onana against Lyon. Onana was rested for the Newcastle fixture after a turbulent week and his replacement, Altay Bayindir, gifted Bruno Guimaraes a goal when his underhit kick was intercepted by Joelinton.

“Nothing,” he replied when asked what he would say to Bayindir. “I’m going to continue to do the same. We are going to analyse the game, but we need to focus on the next one, we cannot change this one, the next one is massive for us, so let’s focus on the next one on Thursday to play better and to win the game.

“You guys have to wait (to see if Onana will start). We are going to start the next week tomorrow and I’m going to choose the best starting XI for the next one.”

Here at the Manchester Evening News, we’re dedicated to bringing you the best Manchester United coverage and analysis.

Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest United news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe.

You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day’s biggest stories.

And finally, if you’d rather listen to our expert analysis then make sure to check out our Manchester is Red podcast, featuring The Samuel Luckhurst Show and The Midweek Debate. Our shows are available on all podcast platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and you can also watch along on YouTube.