Newcastle deserved to draw Manchester United - Rafa Benítez | OneFootball

Despite putting up a strong fight at home against a revitalised Manchester United side, they were unable to stop Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men from recording their fourth straight win.

Second-half goals from Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford were enough to bring United to within six points of a top-four spot following Chelsea’s draw against Southampton.

Despite the obvious difference in quality on the pitch, Newcastle boss Rafa Benítez believes his side deserved a better result.

“We made a mistake for the first and after, when we were doing better, they scored the second goal on the counter-attack,” Benitez said.

“That normally happens when you play against good players, they punish you.

“We started quite well, there were two or three situations where we were quite close, and we also had some chances in the second half. We lost the game 2-0 but we deserved more.

“To win the game? I don’t know. But to be there and be close and get a draw, I think so.

“If you analyse how we concede, they didn’t create many clear chances. At the end, when we were more open and exposed, they were more dangerous, but for 80 minutes it was really close.

“We know that the final third is the key. When you pay big money for players, offensive players, they can make the difference.

“You have to give credit to our players because for 85 minutes they were in the game. In these kinds of games, one mistake and these players can make the difference.”

After they host Blackburn in the FA Cup third round on Saturday, Newcastle will have a nightmare five-match spell on their hands, having to face Chelsea, Cardiff, Manchester City, Tottenham, and Wolves within a month’s time.