Bruno Fernandes and Harry Maguire blown away by ‘brilliant’ Man United star vs Newcastle, his stats disagree
Ruben Amorim threw a spanner in the works for Eddie Howe as Man United secured a narrow win over Newcastle United on Friday.
Gary Neville noticed Howe needed to make changes within the first 10 minutes, with the Red Devils surprising their opponents with a different formation, and even the home supporters.
Things could have been rather different for the home side, with Newcastle fans wanting Benjamin Sesko sent off for his challenge on Sandro Tonali, but calls fell upon the deaf ears of Anthony Taylor.
Instead, the result marked Man United‘s eighth league victory of the 2025-26 campaign, taking them up to fifth in the Premier League table, and for that, fans and players alike were thankful for Manuel Ugarte.
Manuel Ugarte earns rave reviews from experienced Man United duo
Ugarte took to Instagram with a series of pictures from the Red Devils’ narrow win over the Magpies, with the Uruguayan thrown into the starting lineup. He took Fernandes’ place due to injury.
In response, the club captain responded, “Partidazoooo,” which translates to “great match,” while Harry Maguire commented, “Brilliant tonight, mate,” with fire and praise emojis.
The midfielder responded, “Thank you, Harry,” as praise rained in from supporters, who appreciated his efforts in the middle of the park.
While his teammates were clearly full of praise for his 90 minutes at Old Trafford, his underlying numbers tell a different story, and Amorim might be listening more to those than the comments.
Ugarte’s performance in numbers vs Newcastle
Ugarte completed the full 90 minutes, with Amorim confusing Gary Neville by replacing Casemiro on the hour-mark instead, with his partner being given just his fourth league start of the campaign.
Despite positive reviews from those around him, the 24-year-old completed just 73 per cent of his passes, created just one chance, only won 50 per cent of his tackles, and was dribbled past three times [FotMob].
He also committed three fouls, won just 53 per cent of his ground duels, and was dispossessed once, as Newcastle were given several chances to even up the score, albeit they failed to take any of them.
It could have been a very different story had Howe’s side converted their chances at Old Trafford, but it was not to be, and Ugarte’s performance is now looked upon positively because of that.
In addition to Fernandes’ injury, Bryan Mbeumo, Noussair Mazraoui, and Amad Diallo are all away on international duty, so the fringe players must step up over the coming weeks.