Benitez Disappointed By Errors

Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez bemoaned his side’s mistakes in their home defeat to Manchester United on Wednesday night.

Second-half goals from substitute Romelu Lukaku, who scored with his first touch after Magpies keeper Martin Dubravka spilled Marcus Rashford’s free-kick, and Rashford himself were enough to take the points at St James’ Park.

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The result leaves Newcastle just two points above the drop zone following the Christmas fixtures and the manager was disappointed with his side.

Benitez said: “On these kind of nights, you have to be disappointed in the way that you lost because if the other team is doing really well, much better than you, you say ‘Fair enough, that’s it’.

“But we were doing enough to deserve something more. We made a mistake and conceded the first goal and after when we were doing better, we conceded the second goal from a counter-attack.

“For 85 minutes, we deserved something more than just to lose the way that we lost. The message is clear and consistent: in the final third, the accuracy of the final pass, the assist, the final decisions, that is the key if you want to score more goals.”