Jose Mourinho Claims Man Utd Could Have Played for '10 Hours' Without Scoring Against Newcastle

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has laid into his misfiring forwards following Sunday afternoon's disappointing 1-0 defeat against Newcastle at St James' Park, claiming he felt as though the team could have played for '10 hours' and still not found the net.

Anthony Martial saw United's clearest chance of the first half saved by Newcastle debutant goalkeeper Martin Dubravka, while Alexis Sanchez later delayed before taking an attempt at an open goal that allowed Magpies defender Florian Lejeune to block.

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Martial had two further efforts blocked on the goal-line in the closing stages, while one more heroic stoppage time save from Dubravka also denied the visitors from Manchester.

"We could be here for 10 hours and we wouldn't score a goal - that's the feeling," Mourinho explained after the final whistle (ManUtd.com).

"When you see the amount of chances we lost, starting in the first half when Anthony was facing the keeper. In the second half, we had Alexis with an open goal and then we had an accumulation of situations where it's incredible that we didn't score."

Mourinho was also disappointed with the way that United leaked the decisive goal, finished by Newcastle winger Matt Ritchie after a long free-kick into the penalty area.

"I think we have to say the goal is a mistake," he said. "A lateral free-kick which travelled a long distance to the box - we lose the first ball in the air because we didn't compete and then we lost the second ball on the floor."

One of the big talking points of the game also centred on Paul Pogba. The Frenchman returned to the starting line-up after being dropped for the previous outing against Huddersfield, but appeared to be well off the pace until being substituted after 66 minutes.

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It had looked as though Pogba might have been carrying a problem in the pre-game warm-up, but Mourinho has now insisted that the £89m midfielder was sacrificed for tactical reasons and not because of any injury or fitness issue.

Michael Carrick was brought on to "do the simple things", while the United boss categorically stated, "No, no, no, nothing. No, no problems," when asked about Pogba being injured.