Newcastle captain Jamaal Lascelles did not mince his words after beating Manchester United, claiming most of Jose Mourinho‘s players “went missing” and that their defence “didn’t really know what to do”.

Rafael Benitez oversaw a memorable, and much-needed, victory on Sunday afternoon as the relegation-threatened Magpies fought hard for a 1-0 victory.

Matt Ritchie struck the decisive blow after the visitors failed to deal with a free-kick into the box on an afternoon when Mourinho’s Reds failed to match Newcastle’s hunger and intensity.

St James’ Park roared their side to victory and skipper Lascelles shot from the hip when it came to the second-placed visitors.

“They have got some great players, but I don’t think United turned up,” the defender said.

“We have played against Arsenal and Man City and you can really see the quality and one mistake or a lack of concentration and a goal will go in.

“I don’t think they were at it from the start of the game – a lot of their players went missing.

“It was probably the way we were playing, we made them play like that.

“In the first-half they were making a lot of mistakes, passing the ball around but it was down to our pressing.
“We were aggressive, and they didn’t like it. You could see their centre-halves on the ball and they didn’t really know what to do with it.

“We set up really well and we matched up really well against them. The manager got it spot on.”