Amorim has no excuses for Man Utd's latest meltdown

United slumped to another chastening loss as Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes struck either side of Harvey Barnes' brace for a rampant Newcastle at St James' Park. United's 14 league defeats this season are their joint highest in a single Premier League campaign. They last suffered more losses in a top-flight season in 1989-90, when they came 13th.

Without a win in their last four games in all competitions, United are languishing in 14th place as they try to avoid their lowest finish since being relegated in 21st place in 1973-74. Alejandro Garnacho's first-half equaliser was no consolation for United, who were out-fought and out-classed after the interval in a loss that showed the vast gap between Amorim's men and the Premier League's elite at present.

"Many mistakes. They were stronger in the second balls, they were a better team, but we did a lot of mistakes which makes it harder to win a game," Amorim said. "It is a little bit of everything, it is hard to point one thing that goes wrong in these moments. "It is really hard to win against these top teams when you make mistakes which help the opponent to score. But let's focus on Thursday, which is really important for us."

Amorim replaced the sacked Erik ten Hag in November, but has been unable to revitalise United, who are already guaranteed to suffer their lowest points total in the Premier League era.

'Not been consistent'

The former Sporting Lisbon boss' last chance to salvage United's wretched campaign rests with the Europa League. Lyon visit Old Trafford for the quarter-final second leg on Thursday with the tie level at 2-2. "I understand it but I don't care," Amorim said of criticism of his turbulent reign. "Nothing is worse than losing games. People can say whatever they want to say.

"I don't want to defend myself or anything like that, because if you look at our position in the table, it says it all. So let's move on. "It is really important on Thursday. Losing games is the hardest part by far from this job, so again let's focus on Thursday." United captain Bruno Fernandes conceded his team are missing the fighting spirit and consistency required to thrive in the Premier League.

"We are in this position because we have not been consistent in the performances we put out," he said. "We lack being more fearless, being more brave. Today was not the case because we ended up conceding goals by trying to be brave. "It's easy to criticise because this club has never suffered like this, so it's normal. You have to be aware you play for United and criticism will be there."

Assistant boss Jason Tindall took charge of Newcastle, with manager Eddie Howe recovering from illness after being admitted to hospital on Friday. "I have just seen a message from him congratulating the performance from everybody and the team," Tindall said. "He was able to watch it and it lifted his spirits. I think he put his trust in everybody to go out there and deliver a performance he would be proud of and the lads certainly delivered that."