Man United loses to Newcastle, Real Madrid wins

Manchester, Apr. 15: Andre Onana was left out of Sunday's Premier League game against Newcastle following the goalkeeper's latest high-profile errors for the club, but Manchester United still fell to a heavy loss.

With back-up keeper Altay Bayindir in the starting lineup at St. James' Park, United went on to lose 4-1 — ensuring it will set the club's worst-ever points total in the Premier League era.

Onana was dropped after being partially at fault for both goals in United's 2-2 draw with Lyon in the Europa League on Thursday. He was not even a substitute against Newcastle, with third-choice Tom Heaton on the bench.

“Sometimes, you have to push the player to play again, sometimes you have to let him disconnect a little bit,” United head coach Ruben Amorim said of the selection. “You have to manage everything, sometimes people just look at the physical aspect but the mental aspect is really, really important.

“It’s for just one game and we give Altay an opportunity, he deserves it also and then, again, tomorrow is a new life and we will prepare for the next one.”

United's latest loss was its 11th in all competitions since Amorim took charge in November. It was the 20-time English champion's 14th loss in the league this season.

Onana was a serial title winner with Ajax and joined United from Inter Milan for $57 million in 2023, but has endured an error-strewn time since that move.

Last year he admitted he had to protect his mental health after a series of costly mistakes.

His mistakes against Lyon came after former United player Nemanja Matic described him as “one of the worst goalkeepers” in the club’s history.

Real Madrid overcame Kylian Mbappé's red card for a reckless tackle in the first half to win 1-0 at Alaves and get back to within four points of Spanish league leader Barcelona on Sunday.

Mbappé was sent off shortly before the break after coming in hard for a studs-up challenge on Alaves midfielder Antonio Blanco.

The France star was initially shown a yellow card but the referee changed it to a red after video review.

Mbappé hadn’t seen a red card since 2019 while still playing for Paris Saint-Germain. He will miss at least the Spanish league game at Athletic Bilbao next Sunday.

“Kylian is not violent, he has apologized,” said Madrid assistant coach Davide Ancelotti, who was in charge on the bench because of a yellow-card suspension for his father, Carlo Ancelotti, who watched from the stands.

“He knows what he has done,” Davide Ancelotti said. “It's a clear red-card foul and he paid for it.”

Alaves also played with 10 men from the 70th minute after Manu Sánchez was sent off for a foul on Madrid forward Vinícius Júnior.

Eduardo Camavinga scored Madrid's winner with a shot from outside the area in the 34th. He hadn’t scored a goal since a Copa del Rey match in January.

Barcelona had increased its lead over Madrid with a 1-0 win at Leganes on Saturday.

The victory snapped Madrid’s three-game winless streak in all competitions, a run that included Tuesday's 3-0 loss at Arsenal in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals.

Carlo Ancelotti rested some of his regular starters ahead of the second leg on Wednesday in the Spanish capital.

“The victory gives us confidence," Davide Ancelotti said. “It was what we were looking for and we knew it wasn’t going to be easy.”

Alaves, which has only two wins in its last 11 league games, stayed in 17th place, just outside the relegation zone.

The match was briefly interrupted in the 70th because of some fans' “Die” chants against Madrid defender Raúl Asencio.

Fight for fourth

Both fourth-placed Athletic Bilbao and fifth-placed Villarreal won their matches. Athletic beat Rayo Vallecano 3-1 at home and Villarreal defeated sixth-placed Real Betis 2-1 on the road.

Athletic has a six-point lead over Villarreal, which has a game in hand. Betis is a further three points back.

Villarreal rallied with goals from Thierno Barry and Ayoze Pérez after Aitor Ruibal had put the hosts ahead three minutes into the match. It was Betis' first loss after nine games without defeat.

Athletic got a pair of goals by Oihan Sancet and one by Nico Williams against 10th-placed Rayo. The victory ended Athletic's streak of three straight draws across all competitions.

Osasuna wins

Osasuna beat Girona 2-1 to move to 12th place and end a three-game losing streak against the Catalan club in the league. It hadn’t won in nine matches in all competitions.

Girona, which had two goals disallowed, hasn’t won in nine straight league matches, with six losses and three draws. It sits in 16th place.(AP)