Harvey Barnes scored twice as Newcastle United dispatched Manchester United 4-1 to move into fourth place in the Premier League.
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A dominant Newcastle, whose boss Eddie Howe was absent due to illness, took a deserved lead through Sandro Tonali, though Alejandro Garnacho restored parity with a breakaway goal before the break.
But Barnes came to the fore with two goals in the space of 15 minutes after the break, tapping home his first before drilling in a second with a powerful effort.
A mistake from Altay Bayindir – who replaced Andre Onana in Man Utd's goal – enabled Newcastle to add more gloss in the 77th minute, with Bruno Guimaraes slotting in their fourth.
Newcastle are now one point behind third-placed Nottingham Forest, with a game in hand on the teams around them, while United drop below Everton into 14th on goal difference.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
32 | +43 | 76 |
| 2 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
32 | +30 | 63 |
| 3 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
32 | +13 | 57 |
| 4 |
Newcastle
NEW
|
31 | +16 | 56 |
| 5 |
Man City
MCI
|
32 | +20 | 55 |
| 6 |
Chelsea
CHE
|
32 | +17 | 54 |
How the match unfolded
The hosts thought they had an opener just 40 seconds in, Joelinton cushioning Kieran Trippier’s cross in from close range, only for the offside flag to deny him.
Their pressure eventually paid off in the 24th minute, though. Alexander Isak’s smart flick took Leny Yoro out of the game, and Tonali picked out the bottom-left corner on the volley.
Bayindir pounced on to an Isak volley to keep the score down, and United capitalised on that save moments later as Garnacho finished off Diogo Dalot’s driving counter by slotting his finish through Fabian Schar’s legs.
Newcastle required less than four second-half minutes to regain their lead. Jacob Murphy recycled an overhit cross, pulling it back to give Barnes an easy tap-in.
The winger got his second 15 minutes later, profiting from a Noussair Mazraoui slip before driving into the box to rifle a brilliant effort into the top-right corner.
And the St James’ Park faithful had more to cheer when Bayindir saw a poor pass cut out by Joelinton. He cushioned a header into the path of Guimaraes, who made no mistake.
Magpies soar in Howe’s absence
Newcastle did not have Howe on the touchline after the club confirmed he had been taken to hospital in recent days due to illness, but his assistant Jason Tindall insisted the Magpies would put in a performance their manager would be proud of.
And with the race for the top five heating up, Newcastle went on the offensive from the start, with Murphy and Isak flashing efforts narrowly wide before Tonali opened the scoring with a fine finish.
The Magpies sometimes lacked answers to United’s first-half counter-attacks, but they were free-flowing going the other way against a shaky Red Devils defence, with Tonali and Isak dovetailing nicely.
Newcastle did not let their heads drop after conceding the equaliser and adopted the same front-footed approach after the break, with swift reward as Barnes followed up his goal against Leicester City on Monday with a brace.
He was in the right place to turn home his first, while his pressure harried Mazraoui, and there was no stopping that effort from hitting the back of the net. When another defensive lapse from United gifted them a chance, Guimaraes kept his cool.
Newcastle, who earned a first Premier League double over United, are looking well set to secure a return to the UEFA Champions League, with Crystal Palace at home next up on Wednesday night in what is their game in hand.
Amorim’s problems mount
United’s struggles at both ends of the pitch have been well-documented this season, and Ruben Amorim made changes to try and turn their fortunes in the final stretch.
Onana dropped to the bench after his errors in United’s UEFA Europa League draw with Lyon on Thursday, meaning Bayindir came in for a Premier League debut. He almost conceded inside the opening minute without having a touch of the ball, though the offside flag offered United a reprieve.
With United having drawn blanks in their last two league outings, Joshua Zirkzee was trusted to lead the line and almost followed up his midweek goal by finishing off a flowing one-touch sequence on the edge of the box, but Nick Pope parried over.
Chances were few and far between, though – Garnacho was unable to double his tally just before the break as Pope pushed his curler behind on stretch, while Bruno Fernandes struggled to demonstrate his usual flair as he was kept on the fringes of the action.
United looked rattled from the start, but the pressure eventually told in the second half, with the visitors unable to find any stability as endless Newcastle attacks rained down on their backline.
A Europa League quarter-final second leg against Lyon looms on Thursday for Amorim’s side as they look to bounce back, with a resurgent Wolverhampton Wanderers their next Premier League opponents.
Club reports
Newcastle report | Man Utd report
What the managers said
Jason Tindall (assistant manager): "We went out and delivered a performance he (Eddie Howe) would be proud of. Hopefully he is back very soon.
"Amongst our pressing was some fantastic football and some good goals."
Ruben Amorim: "Many mistakes. Newcastle were stronger in second balls. We did a lot of mistakes that made it harder to win a game. That's all."
Next PL fixtures
Key facts
Newcastle have won 12 of their last 16 Premier League games (four losses), a sequence which began with a 4-0 win over Leicester on 14 December. Indeed, since that date, only Liverpool (P18 W12 D5 L1 – 41 points) have won more points in the competition than Newcastle (36), having played two more games than the Magpies during this period.
Newcastle secured their first league double over Manchester United since 1930/31, netting four goals in a league game against the Red Devils for the first time since September 2001 (4-3).
Newcastle became the fourth side to do the league double over Manchester United this season (also Brighton, Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur), the most teams to win home and away against the Red Devils in a league campaign since 1957/58 (four).
United’s 14 league defeats this season is their joint-highest tally in a single Premier League campaign, also losing 14 games last season. The Red Devils last suffered more defeats in a top-flight campaign in 1989/90 (16 in 38 games).
