United’s title hopes hit by 3-0 loss at Newcastle

NEWCASTLE, England (AP)—Newcastle consigned
Manchester United to a second straight loss in the
English Premier League by thrashing Alex
Ferguson’s side 3-0 at St. James’ Park on
Wednesday.
United slipped three points behind league leader
Manchester City after sublime strikes by Demba
Ba and Yohan Cabaye either side of halftime were
added to by a calamitous own goal by Phil Jones
in the 90th minute.
Coming four days after a shock 3-2 upset at the
hands of Blackburn, United’s latest defeat also left
the reigning champions just three points above
third-place Tottenham in what is shaping up to be
a three-horse race for the title.
“We have had our opportunity and it’s advantage
to Man City,” said Ferguson, whose team’s next
game is against its cross-town rival in the third
round of the FA Cup on Sunday.
Newcastle’s strike pairing of Ba, who grabbed his
15th goal of the campaign, and Shola Ameobi
bullied United’s defense all night while the
returning Wayne Rooney had a frustrating game
before being substituted in the 74th.
“We won because we controlled the game in
terms of what we wanted to do,” Newcastle
manager Alan Pardew said. “We would not let
them play. Physically and aerially we had an
advantage and capitalised on that.”
Ba’s goal came in the 33rd and at a time when
United was looking threatening, with Dimitar
Berbatov having already headed against the post
with Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul beaten.
Ameobi flicked on a long clearance by Krul and Ba
got to the ball ahead of Rio Ferdinand to hook a
ball into the far corner.
Cabaye’s free kick made it 2-0, the France
midfielder stepping up from 30 yards (meters) to
curl a stunning effort into the top corner with
United goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard getting a
fingertip to the shot but was unable to prevent it
going in.
Rooney had a volley cleared off the line by
Newcastle defender Danny Simpson, a former
United player, but United’s night was summed up
seconds before stoppage time when Jones
stooped to deflect a clearance by Krul into his
own net, with Lindegaard completely fooled by
his own defender.
“We saw what Blackburn did against Manchester
United a few days ago, so one of our main tactics
was to get in behind them and squeeze them up
the pitch and it worked,” Ameobi said.