Newcastle United held Man United to a scoreless draw at Old Trafford in the Premier League.
The reds were fortunate when Joelinton hit the woodwork twice in quick succession.
After the break, the hosts recovered and Cristiano Ronaldo promptly had two goals disallowed.
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The first decision was made without controversy but the Portugal forward was furious with the second because he believed Fabian Schar had taken the free-kick, allowing him to scurry in and score before Nick Pope could react.
Man United were denied a penalty when Jadon Sancho was knocked down by Sean Longstaff earlier in the game.
However, the majority of the goalmouth action occurred in the closing minutes, with Fred failing to convert a Marcus Rashford cut-back before heading Casemiro’s corner well wide of the far post.
De Gea, who was playing in his 500th United match, confessed the outcome was frustrating after the match.
“I think we miss another opportunity to win the three points,” he told MUTV.
The Spaniard was asked what the mood was like in the dressing room.
“I think we fight until the end, to be honest. We had a couple of massive chances at the end but that is football, sometimes you miss your chances and at least we keep a clean sheet.”
“I think that’s really important because I think Newcastle is a great team, they’re doing very well over the season, so yeah, let’s keep doing well, recovering well, because on Wednesday we have a big game again.”
Newcastle boss Howe speaking after the match admitted that he was glad to escape with a point.
“Especially in the first half I thought we were very good,” Howe said. “Joelinton had the two chances when he hit the woodwork, we could potentially have had a penalty for the challenge on Callum Wilson,” He added.
Howe was asked about the controversial moment and whether it should have been allowed to stand.
“I could see it at the time, and for me it was clear Fabi wasn’t taking the kick. He was allowing Nick to do it.”
“I don’t know if the ref had blown his whistle, but I don’t think he had to restart play. For me, it was clear that Nick was waiting to actually deliver the free-kick and then, obviously, Ronaldo had taken the ball off him.”
“It would have been a very, very difficult goal to swallow if it had stood. For me it was clear the ball it wasn’t in play.”
Erik ten Hag speaking to the press on Man United’s performance.
“We are disappointed we didn’t win as the performance was good. A clean sheet, we pressed well from the front to the back and we controlled it, I think.”
“I thought we were good on the ball in stages, especially the second half. We were a little bit erratic in the first half.”
“You see a physical team as Newcastle, we matched them, at least. In the end, we could have won and we deserved to win.”
“It’s a big compliment to the team that we could deserve this with a physical performance against maybe the best physical team in the league. When you can deliver this, you keep going.”
Ten Hag on physical and mental approach:
“In the end, it was the physical and then the mentality. How we kept going. We gave them cramp because we made them run when we were on the ball, because our pressing was good. In the end, we broke them but didn’t kill them by not scoring. So I’m pleased with the performance but disappointed by the result.”
Ten Hag on Rashford’s missed chances:
“Yeah, he created two good chances. The first, a good move in the back, and the second a header. He had an impact, that is what I expect from players who come in from the bench. We decided to get freshness in the team and I think that worked out really well.”
Erik ten Hag was then asked about Ronaldo’s disallowed goal:
“I don’t have a comment, everyone has seen it. You can try [asking] but everyone has seen the game. Everyone has seen the game and it is your job to judge the performance from the team and from the referees. Not me, I will not do it.”
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