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Newcastle eased for drop after stunning Red Devils

NEWCASTLE boosted their chances of avoiding relegation from the Premier League with a 1-0 win over Manchester United and the Magpies have been eased to 7-2 for the drop.

Rafa Benitez’s side were 5-1 to take three points off the visitors but the Red Devils had no response to a second-half goal from Matt Ritchie, a 16-1 chance to score first.

The loss leaves Jose Mourinho’s United 16 points behind leaders Manchester City and only six ahead of fifth-placed Chelsea, who travel to West Brom tonight to play their game in hand.

United are 1-8 to finish in the top four with Tottenham, 1-0 winners over Arsenal on Saturday, 1-3 and Liverpool 1-8 after a 2-0 win at Southampton. The Saints remain in the bottom three and are 4-1 to go down.

Like Newcastle, Huddersfield claimed a valuable victory in their bid to stay up as the 12-5 shots beat Bournemouth 4-1. However, the Terriers remain 8-11 for an immediate return to the Sky Bet Championship.

Aston Villa are 5-6 to earn promotion from the second tier. Goals from Albert Adomah and Conor Hourihane gave Villa a 2-0 derby win over Birmingham, propelling them to second place in the Championship table.

Manchester United, sent off at 4-6 in their defeat at Newcastle, weren’t the only favourites to flop in Europe yesterday and plenty of accumulators will have been sunk by La Liga leaders Barcelona, who were 1-8 to beat Getafe at Camp Nou but were held to a goalless draw.

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