EDDIE HOWE admitted Erik ten Hag’s criticism of Newcastle United as ‘time wasters’ had got under his skin – and claimed the Magpies had proved a point as they beat Manchester United 2-0 to climb to third position in the Premier League table.

Second-half headers from Joe Willock and Callum Wilson enabled Newcastle to triumph at St James’ Park, and claim a degree of revenge for February’s Carabao Cup final defeat at Wembley.

Howe had bridled at ten Hag’s pre-match comments about Newcastle’s time-wasting tactics, and the two head coaches clashed on the sidelines in the closing stages as the Manchester United boss complained about how long Nick Pope was taking to take a goal kick.

Howe feels any criticism of Newcastle’s approach is completely unjustified, and highlighted his players’ desire to get on the front foot as a key factor in yesterday’s win.

“I want to make one thing very clear,” said the Magpies boss. “We want the ball in play. We play a quick game. I don’t get where this time-wasting nonsense has come from, because it’s not us.

“You saw today, we wanted the ball back in play as quickly as possible. We want to play with high energy and a high tempo.

“I’ll always stand up for my team and what I believe is right. If something is not accurate, then naturally you want to put the right point across. We want the ball in play – that’s the type of team we are.”

Newcastle dominated from start to finish as they created a succession of good opportunities and restricted Manchester United to just one effort on target.

David De Gea made fine first-half saves from Alexander Isak and Joe Willock, and also turned a second-half header from Joelinton onto the crossbar, with the Magpies’ dominance meaning their two-goal winning margin could easily have been much wider.

“This is a blueprint for how we want to play,” said Howe, who will now begin his preparations for Wednesday night’s trip to West Ham United. “If we need evidence of our team performing well in almost every phase, then that was it today. It had a similar feel to the Arsenal game at the back end of last season in terms of what we want to deliver.

“It’s difficult because you’re playing against elite teams week in, week out, who want to stop you, but that’s evidence of what we want to be.”

A despondent ten Hag admitted Manchester United were deservedly beaten, and accused his players of failing to match Newcastle’s collective hunger and desire.

“I was surprised that we couldn’t match the determination and passion on the side of the opponent,” said the Manchester United boss. “They (Newcastle) were more determined and showed more aggression and more desire. If that happens in many situations on the pitch, then you can’t win games.”

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