Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim said the club is staring at a battle for Premier League survival after Newcastle United cruised to a 2-0 win at Old Trafford to cap a miserable year.
Just two months into his tenure, Amorim conceded this week that his job is on the line unless results begin to improve.
The Portuguese has won just two of his first eight league games, leaving United languishing down in 14th, just seven points above the relegation zone.
Newcastle's Alexander Isak and Joelinton headed early goals to hand Amorim's team their fifth loss in their last six league games.
"I think (relegation) is a possibility and we have to be clear with our fans. We have to change something but this season will be really hard on everybody. It can make us stronger and we have to fight," Amorim said.
"It's also my fault in this moment, because I think the team is not improved, I think it is a little bit lost in this moment. So it's a little bit embarrassing to be much as United coach and to lose a lot of games. But we have to cope with that, difficult moments in the life of everybody. So it's a hard moment."
Just over three minutes were on the clock when Isak was afforded space inside the six-yard box to head in Lewis Hall's cross and score for the sixth consecutive Premier League game.
United, without suspended captain Bruno Fernandes, struggled as the Newcastle midfield of Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton played around the ageing duo of Casemiro and Christian Eriksen.
Isak blew a huge chance to double the visitors' lead when he fluffed an attempted dink over Andre Onana and the Swedish striker also had a goal ruled out for offside.
However, it was just a matter of time before Newcastle added a second and it arrived when Joelinton burst in to meet Anthony Gordon's cross.
"They are a better team and they started very strong," added Amorim.
"When we suffer a goal it is really hard to turn around because of all the losses we had before and we don't have the base of work behind to cope with the difficult moments."
It was Newcastle's second victory at Old Trafford in 40 league visits, dating back to 1972.
"We know the hurt this fixture has had for us historically, it wasn't lost on us," Newcastle boss Eddie Howe said. "We didn't necessarily use that with the players, but it was a big step forward for us today. I think we need to win games like this to achieve what we want on a regular basis."
It is also the first time since 1979 that Manchester United have lost three consecutive league games at home. Their 18 goals conceded in all competitions in December is their most in a single month since March 1964 (also 18).
Chelsea suffer shock defeat
Enzo Maresca said Chelsea should not think about challenging for the Premier League title after lowly Ipswich beat the Blues 2-0 at Portman Road.
Maresca's side were rocked by Liam Delap's early penalty and a second-half goal from former Chelsea winger Omari Hutchinson.
Chelsea's second successive defeat after their Boxing Day loss against Fulham left them without a win in their last three matches.
The west Londoners had emerged as surprise title contenders after an eight-match winning run in all competitions.
But Maresca had insisted throughout that spell that Chelsea's inexperienced squad do not have what it takes to win the title in his first season after arriving from Leicester.
And the Italian's prediction looks spot on after a shock result in Suffolk that leaves Chelsea in fourth place, 10 points behind leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand.
"We focus game by game. We are not focused on title race or those things," Maresca said.
"It was a strange game. We had many chances but we could do many things better, defend better in some moments. Now we've finished the first part of the season, no one expected us to be where we are. It's a long race."
