Manchester United 3-2 Newcastle United: Rasmus Hojlund ends goal drought in thriller for hosts

After all the pain he received for his positioning against Arsenal on Sunday, Casemiro was a surprise starter in central defense with Lisandro Martinez available and asked to play against the Gunners.

Martinez’s conversation with the Ten Hag before this game could only be guessed at and when the Brazilian wandered into midfield in the opening minutes and then gave the ball away to set up a dangerous Newcastle counter-attack, the selection was even more careful.

However, instead of coming off the bench, Casemiro tapped into his vast experience to play a starring role for the rest of the first half.

Perfectly positioned to collect Dan Burn’s header off the line just inches from becoming a goal, Casemiro then produced a brilliant tackle on Anthony Gordon to deny Newcastle a shooting chance with just Andre Onana to beat.

Howe was adamant his side should have had a penalty as part of the move and likely shared Wolves’ sentiments in questioning the validity of VAR as Jarred Gillett opted not to overturn Rob Jones’ on-field decision that Sofyan Amrabat did not unlawfully obstruct Gordon.

Casemiro also went close with an overhead kick and when he watches the replays, he may wonder if Trippier will be subject to the same slur he has received over the past three days.

The overall result means Manchester United have something to play for on the final day, which didn’t always seem the case.

And as Ten Hag pointed out at the start of his appreciation tour, his side end their season at Wembley in the FA Cup final against Manchester City, when he promised his side would “give it our all”.