Gary Neville feels Newcastle United 'deserved' to be in front after an impressive first-half showing in the goalless draw at Manchester United. The Sky Sports pundit also praised Eddie Howe's side for posing a constant threat from set-pieces at Old Trafford.
Eddie Howe's side pressed the hosts in the opening 45 minutes, and had a strong penalty shout turned down when Callum Wilson was brought down by Raphael Varane. Joelinton came closest to scoring, but saw two successive headers strike the woodwork.
Manchester United had their own penalty shout waved away after the interval, with Jadon Sancho going down following a challenge from Sean Longstaff. Fred and Marcus Rashford both spurned clear late chances to snatch the victory for Erik ten Hag's side.
READ MORE: 'Worst decision': Match of the Day verdict on Newcastle penalty shout in Man Utd draw
Neville was on punditry duties for Sky Sports at Anfield on Sunday, but watched large portions of the game and believes the visitors did 'really well'. The ex-Manchester United defender believes his former side struggled in the absence of Christian Eriksen, but was impressed with the approach from the Magpies.
He told the Gary Neville Podcast: "I watched the first half and from set-pieces in particular, Newcastle could have easily [scored]. It was Joelinton who hit the bar and then the post, and Newcastle definitely deserved something from that first half.
"They deserved to be in front. I didn't see all of the second half but it didn't feel like a good performance from [Manchester] United.
"It just felt it wasn't quite the same fluidity we've seen with him [Eriksen] in the team. I'll be handing over to people who know better who were at the game and speaking to them later, but that's how it looked to me and Newcastle I thought did really well."
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