Manchester United came from behind three times to earn a vital 4-3 Premier League win against Newcastle in a Boxing Day cracker at Old Trafford.
James Perch gave the visitors a shock early lead but Sir Alex
Ferguson's side were level against the run of play through Jonny Evans
midway through the first half. Evans then put the ball in his own in
net, in a goal surrounded by controversy, before Patrice Evra once more
got United on level terms shortly after the break.
Papiss Cisse
put the Magpies ahead for the third time in the second half, just
moments before Robin van Persie found a third equaliser for the hosts.
Finally, Chicharito, who had spurned a number of chances, dramatically
gave United the lead right at the death.
Sir Alex made five changes to the side which drew at Swansea, with Wayne Rooney the most notable absentee.
Chicharito, Phil Jones, Nemanja Vidic, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs all returned to the starting line-up.
Alan Pardew, meanwhile, replaced the suspended Cheikh Tiote with Gael Bigirimana, while Sylvain Marveaux came in for Jonas Gutierrez in the only other change.
The
visitors looked up for it early on and found themselves ahead inside
four minutes. Michael Carrick's miscontrol in midfield allowed Demba Ba
to fire a speculative shot at David de Gea and the United shot-stopper
could only push the striker's effort into the path of Perch, who tapped home his first ever Premier League goal.
Newcastle
continued their bright start, with Cisse and Ba keeping the United's
defence on their toes. Fabricio Coloccini nearly doubled their lead
after 20 minutes when he nearly looped a header over De Gea, while the
hosts failed to even register a meaningful effort on goal.
But the equaliser, against the run of play, eventually came five minutes later when
Evans bundled the ball in from six yards after Tim Krul had originally done well to keep out Chicharito from close range.
United
were only level for a matter of moments as the Magpies regained the
lead four minutes later with a highly controversial goal. Danny Simpson
had his shot deflected into his own net by
Evans but it
was disallowed for offside, with Cisse judged to have been in an active
position. However, referee Mike Dean reversed the decision after
consulting with his assistant.
It could have been even worse for
United going in at half-time, Marveaux rattling the crossbar just before
the break with a superbly struck left-footed free kick.
Newcastle were on top at the beginning of the second period, too, but were again pegged back in the 58th minute as
Evra
drove home United's first shot of the half. Krul could have done better
as the defender's shot crept past him from the edge of the area.
The visitors again took the lead, though, this time via an emphatic finish from
Cisse after fine work on the left flank from Gabriel Obertan. Amazingly, United were straight back in it two minutes later;
Van Persie drawing a good save from Krul before turning in the ball in at the second time of asking.
It
was all United for the last quarter of the game as they desperately
piled forward in search of a winner. Van Persie and Chicharito spurned
numerous chances, with the Mexican coming closest with a header of the
post.
In a frantic final few minutes both sides could have
snatched all three points. Sammy Ameobi did brilliantly after coming on
to hold the ball up and beat De Gea with a controlled low effort, but
saw his shot come back of the foot of the post. Chicharito, meanwhile,
once again wasted a golden chance with a close range header hit directly
at Krul.
But the Mexican was not to be denied for much longer, Carrick's excellently chipped ball finding
Chicharito in the box and he slid home United's winner in injury time.
