Joshua Zirkzee jeered by some Manchester United fans at Old Trafford after being subbed off after 33 minutes

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A frustrated Ruben Amorim made the decision to withdraw Joshua Zirkzee just 33 minutes into Manchester United's clash with Newcastle United at Old Trafford, with the home side trialling by two early goals courtesy of Alexander Isak and Joelinton. In a desperate attempt to avoid a fourth defeat on the spin, Amorim hooked the Juventus-linked striker in favour of midfielder Kobbie Mainoo.

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Joshua Zirkzee was the victim of a Ruben Amorim first-half substitution as Manchester United trailed Newcastle by two goals after just 19 minutes at Old Trafford.

Alexander Isak opened the scoring in the fourth minute before Anthony Gordon put the ball on a plate for Joelinton to double the visitors' lead in the early stages.

Red Devils boss Amorim, facing a sixth defeat in his first 11 games in charge, could only wait until the 33rd minute before making a change.

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The fourth official's board displayed Zirkzee's No. 11, with midfielder Kobbie Mainoo stripped off alongside him and ready for action.

Zirkzee made his way off the pitch to boos from a section of the United fans, grabbed his coat from the dugout and headed straight down the tunnel before quickly returning to his spot on the bench.

His early omission during the Newcastle clash comes just a couple of days after he was linked with a move to Juventus.

The Serie A club are understood to be interested in signing the Dutch forward in favour of the frozen-out Marcus Rashford.

Zirkzee was making his eighth Premier League start for Man Utd on Monday, his 19th appearance in the English top-flight since his £36.5 million signing from Bologna last summer.

Since he joined the Manchester club, the 23-year-old has featured 27 times in all competitions, scored four goals and created two more.

Amorim: It was tough on me

Newcastle held on to their two-goal cushion to continue their fine form and deepen United's woes with a brilliant 2-0 win.

Afterwards, Amorim was questioned over his decision to take Zirkzee off.

"You have to think about the team," he replied.

"The player is suffering during the game. We needed another midfielder. It was tough on me to do that, I talked with Joshua on that.

"I’m always thinking about the team. At that moment it was important for him to come out."

He added: "I know that Josh is a really good guy. When he went to the tunnel, I can understand that some guys can be in a bad way but he is a really good lad.

"It is life, and we will support Josh and continue. Newcastle were better than Manchester United, they weren't better than Josh."

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