Manchester United missed the chance to make it three wins from three at the start of the new Premier League season this afternoon, being held to a 0-0 draw by Newcastle United at Old Trafford.

The Red Devils created the vast majority of chances throughout the opening 45 minutes, but it was Newcastle who came closest to scoring when Aleksandar Mitrovic sent a header back off the crossbar.

Clear goalscoring chances were rarer after the interval, but United continued to dominate and almost snatched a late winner when Chris Smalling hit the post.

Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at whether a share of the spoils was the right result.

Match statistics

MAN UTD
Shots: 20
On target: 8
Possession: 70%
Corners: 11
Fouls: 15

NEWCASTLE
Shots: 7
On target: 0
Possession: 30%
Corners: 5
Fouls: 11

Was the result fair?

Manchester United will be wondering just how they did not win this match today. The hosts came flying out of the blocks, and after five minutes or so it felt like the game could be over by half time. Wayne Rooney had a goal wrongly disallowed for offside, while the opening 25 minutes also saw the United skipper, Juan Mata and Memphis Depay spurn good chances to break the deadlock. They were completely dominant during that spell, and the first goal seemed inevitable.

However, it was Newcastle who came closest with Mitrovic's superb header that he was unfortunate to see strike the woodwork. United's play slowed shortly after that, and that allowed the visitors to gain a foothold in the match. Louis van Gaal's side remained on top throughout, and it is no surprise to see the statistics all so heavily in their favour, but in truth they were also perhaps a touch fortunate not to lose the game late on when the Magpies broke after Smalling had hit the post.

Had Newcastle snatched the victory then it would have been a major injustice, but they do deserve credit for the way they defended after the opening half an hour or so. The clean sheet was certainly a hard-earned one, with every player working their socks off to keep United at bay. They perhaps made it too easy for the hosts to control things, but the last line of defence was impeccable as, led by Fabricio Coloccini, they threw themselves in front of everything.

Man Utd's performance

United haven't been entirely convincing in the league so far, but today they picked up where they left off from their improved Champions League match against Club Brugge. They were a lot brighter in attack, cutting Newcastle apart at will in the opening half an hour. As mentioned, Rooney should have given them the lead inside five minutes when his goal was chalked off despite him being level with the last man, while they had a number of other chances to open the scoring before the break.

They failed to keep that intensity up throughout, however, and as soon as the tempo dropped they struggled to create as many openings. Having said that, they had three or four clear chances in the second half, but the ball simply would not go in for them. A combination of poor finishing, desperate defending and bad luck combined to keep them at bay, and ultimately they just could not find a way through. Rooney faded as the game wore on, dropping deeper and deeper, while Memphis failed to repeat his midweek heroics on the left flank despite some good moments.

Another clean sheet is a positive to take from the game, though, and there may be a small part of Van Gaal that is relatively content with a draw considering Newcastle had a couple of golden chances to snatch all of the points. He will know that his side really should have won this game, though, and if they are to mount a serious title challenge this season then dropped points in games like this cannot become commonplace. The performance itself was the most encouraging of their three league displays so far, but they just couldn't stick the ball in the back of the net.

Newcastle's performance

Not many Newcastle fans would have been expecting much from this trip considering their woeful record at Old Trafford but, while they are still searching for their first win under Steve McClaren, they will be heading back to the North-East pretty pleased with what they saw today. Their spirit and fight was called into question at times last season, but as the match wore on it became more and more evident that this lot are up for the fight this term.

It was by no means a perfect performance from the Magpies - they started very sluggishly and would have felt relatively lucky to still be in the game at the half-hour mark having barely got out of their own half before then - but every player worked tirelessly for the team to pick up a hard-earned point. It was a backs-to-the-wall display, and defensively McClaren can be very happy with his side's performance.

There are still issues to address, however, and chief among them today was ball retention. Their failure to keep hold of possession invited more and more pressure and, while they withstood that today, on another day they might not be as lucky. They did come close to completing a smash-and-grab job, though, when Papiss Cisse wasted a three-on-one situation with a late counter-attack. McClaren will be desperate to get that first win under his belt, but this is very much a point gained for his side today rather than two dropped.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Fabricio Coloccini: Newcastle's back five were exposed far too often today, particularly in the opening half an hour, but the last line of defence refused to be beaten. Tim Krul deserves a mention for some crucial saves, but it was Coloccini who led by example. He threw his body in the way of everything and put in a real captain's performance at the heart of the Newcastle defence.

Biggest gaffe

Javier Hernandez and Smalling both get mentions here for spurning great chances, while Cisse's failure to make the most of a late break also needs to be brought up. However, the biggest gaffe goes to the linesman, who wrongly flagged Rooney offside after just four minutes, denying the United skipper a first goal in 10 matches. The official deserves some sympathy as there was a matter of inches in it, but the benefit of the doubt should go to the attacker and Rooney was level with the last defender.

Referee performance

Craig Pawson has been in the spotlight this week after the controversy from the Liverpool vs. Bournemouth game on Monday, but he enjoyed a decent match in the middle. He was let down by his linesman for the early Rooney goal, but aside from that he got the majority of his decisions right.

What next?

Man Utd: Next up for United is a trip to Belgium for the second leg of their Champions League playoff with Club Brugge on Wednesday.

Newcastle: Newcastle, meanwhile, host Northampton Town in the League Cup on Tuesday before welcoming Arsenal to St James' Park next Saturday.