Newcastle pushed Man Utd out of Europa League group

Beating Tottenham 4-0 in round 33 of the Premier League, Newcastle climbed to sixth place, pushing Man Utd out of the Europa League group.

The Premier League will have two places in the Europa League for the 2024-25 season, one for the fifth-placed team and the FA Cup winner. If the FA Cup winner is already in the group that has qualified for the Champions League or Europa League, the sixth-placed team in the Premier League will also qualify for the Europa League.

Newcastle's win over Tottenham means they can move up to sixth and qualify for next season's Europa League, relegating United to the Conference League - Europe's third tier. Seventh place could also qualify for next season's Europa League, if the Premier League has five Champions League spots.

Striker Anthony Gordon scores to make it 2-0 for Newcastle against Tottenham at St James Park, Newcastle, round 33 of the Premier League on April 13, 2024. Photo: PA

Gordon (left) celebrates his goal. Photo: Reuters — Gordon (left) celebrates his goal. Photo: *Reuters*

Man Utd can only return to the Top 6 if they win at Bournemouth in the late match today, April 13. In the first stage, despite playing at Old Trafford, the "Red Devils" still lost 0-3 to this opponent.

Last season, Newcastle and Man Utd were also competing for third place, but both have fallen short this season. Eddie Howe's men have been just outside the top seven since Christmas. But with 10 points from their last 12 possible, they have climbed to sixth, 10 points clear of Tottenham, with six games in hand.

This defeat also knocked Ange Postecoglou's team out of the Top 4. If the Premier League fails to secure the fifth spot in the Champions League next season, Tottenham will likely have to play in the Europa League. This possibility also depends a lot on whether Arsenal and Man City can go deep in the Champions League this season or not.

Newcastle's recent rise has been largely down to striker Alexander Isak, who has scored seven goals in his last seven games. The 25-year-old is 1.92m tall, has long legs and quick acceleration. Tottenham continued to push their defence high into midfield, but this time they were made to pay the price by the home side's quick counter-attacking style. Two of the visitors' three goals came from long balls to strikers who broke the offside trap.

Isak's (second from right) deflection sent Van de Ven crashing to the ground, as Newcastle opened the scoring. Photo: PA

In the 30th minute, striker Anthony Gordon broke the offside trap and passed the ball to Isak to escape into the penalty area. The Swedish striker's turn caused defender Micky van de Ven to fall to the ground, before he shot to the near corner to open the score. Just two minutes later, defender Pedro Porro carelessly passed the ball back, allowing Gordon to face the goalkeeper. The English striker did not shoot but turned the ball and caused Ven to stumble again. At that time, Gordon easily curled the ball to the far corner to double the score.

Victory was assured for Newcastle early in the second half, when midfielder Bruno Guimaraes passed long for Isak to break the offside trap and rush in. Ven slowed down this time to avoid being turned by his opponent, but Isak ran straight ahead and flicked the ball into the far corner with the outside of his right foot.

Ven is 23 years old, 1.93 m tall and has the highest speed in the Premier League at 37.38 km/h. When he played for Wolfsburg, the Dutch centre-back was also the fastest player in the Bundesliga. According to Whoscored , Ven is Tottenham's third best defender this season, behind Cristian Romero and Porro.

Tottenham had possession for 73% of the match, but still lost 4-0. In addition to Isak, Gordon also impressed, having a hand in three goals. Late in the match, he took a corner kick for centre-back Fabian Schar to head into the net without anyone getting close.

Xuan Binh

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