Newcastle United entered what is always one of their biggest games of the season against Manchester United with more questions than answers around their Premier League form.
After five defeats in six, they had dropped to 13th in the table amid fears of them missing out on a European-placed finish.
But Eddie Howe and his players responded with a valiant and deserved 2-1 victory over Champions League-chasing Manchester United, despite going down to 10 men in the first half when Jacob Ramsey was harshly sent off.
Here, our chief football reporter Craig Hope answers five of those key questions which had faced Newcastle and their head coach…
Newcastle produced a valiant win against Manchester United after going down to 10 men
Did Howe get it right by dropping goalkeeper Nick Pope?
Absolutely. It was a big call, given Aaron Ramsdale has not always taken his chance when Pope has been absent, but he did here. He made three huge saves when the scores were level and, for the first time, looked like a worthy first choice.
Ramsdale gave confidence to those in front of him, and that hasn’t always been the case this season with him or Pope. To make those big stops when he did meant that victory remained a possibility entering the final minute. He is deserving of a run in the team now.
No striker, no problem?
Well, maybe they do have a striker after all… enter match-winner William Osula. The Dane nearly joined Frankfurt last summer for £30m and his season has since been plagued by injury or non-selection.
He got his chance here with five minutes left to play and looked motivated from the off. He won the ball to start the attack which climaxed in him cutting inside two defenders and finding the bottom corner with a composure too often absent from his game.
It was a stunning cameo that raised the roof and had his name reverberating around St James’ Park. The chances are he will still move on this summer, but this was evidence of the impact he can make – and deserves the chance to make – between now and the end of the season.
William Osula proved that he deserves the chance to make an impact before the summer
Aaron Ramsdale did well in replacing Nick Pope, which hasn’t always been the case
What about Anthony Gordon (and where were Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa)?
Gordon, right now, is Newcastle’s best striker and showed why here. He was brilliant from the off and got in the face of Manchester United, all the while applying the skill to link play and pose a goal threat of his own. He won and converted the penalty that put Newcastle in front and that was deserved for a performance of endeavour and energy.
Woltemade was ill, while Wissa remained a sub unused. For different reasons, they don’t warrant selection at present. Both, though, perhaps need time to come good.
What was the crowd’s reaction to the manager?
The same as it always has been inside St James’ Park – nothing but support. The noise in opposition of Howe is confined to online, and lacks appreciation for the job he has done and the difficult circumstance of a season that will always be defined by the turbulent summer that preceded it.
This win does not mean a corner turned and the likelihood is that the campaign will play out with the inconsistency that has gone before, but here was a night to prove that manager, supporters and players are aligned – and that better days, given patience and understanding, still lie ahead.
Where does their season go from here?
They are nine points off fifth and the reality is that not enough games remain (nine) to close that gap. So, they either qualify for the Champions League by winning it (unlikely) or aim for the Europa League via the FA Cup or by climbing the table.
But without worrying about next season, there is still a lot to look forward to during this – with Manchester City in the FA Cup, Barcelona in the Champions League and Sunderland in the Premier League all to come before the end of the month.
This win can serve as a launchpad for feel-good and momentum entering this season-defining period, and in Osula and Ramsdale they might just have found two new signings.
