Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho refuses to name and shame Paul Pogba for Newcastle mistake

Tom Doyle12 February 2018

The Portuguese coach, who has never collected three points at St James' Park, saw Matt Ritchie fire old foe Rafael Benitez's men to an unlikely victory as the Red Devils rued a host of mistakes and missed chances.

Anthony Martial saw a gilt-edged chance saved by Martin Dubravka in the first half as the Newcastle goalkeeper had a dream debut for the Magpies, while Alexis Sanchez also missed a fantastic opportunity after Ritchie had put the hosts ahead.

But United's biggest mistakes came in defence, with Chris Smalling being booked for a dive inside his own half to concede the free-kick from which Newcastle won the game.

In Pictures | Newcastle vs Manchester United | 11/02/2018

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Jonjo Shelvey floated the set-piece into the box, and Florian Lejeune - marked by Pogba - rose unchallenged to flick the ball onto Dwight Gayle, who laid the ball off for Ritchie to strike.

Pogba - who appeared to be limping when he left St James' Park - endured a frustrating afternoon and was immediately substituted after the goal, but Mourinho was in no mood to criticise him during his post-match press conference.

"I am pretty sure you have already watched that goal on TV a few times - I didn't - so you know more than me and you know who lost the challenge in the air," Mourinho told Sky Sports.

"You know clearly that, so I think it is bad if you put me in a position where I have to criticise a player."

​Mourinho, however, did name Sanchez and Martial as culprits for missing opportunities on Tyneside, telling BBC Sport: "My verdict is that we could've been here for 10 hours and not scored a goal. Newcastle played with their lives and defended with their lives.

"The gods of football were clearly in their side. They must have an amazing feeling after giving absolutely everything.

"We had some (chances) with the score at 0-0. Alexis had an open goal and then the countless opportunities of the last 20-25 minutes. The double miss of Martial is incredible."

Additional reporting by the Press Association.

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