Wayne Rooney netted twice and provided an assist for Robin van Persie in a 3-0 win for Manchester United over Newcastle United at Old Trafford.
The visitors’ Yoan Gouffran had a strong penalty appeal turned away before Rooney, operating from midfield, opened the scoring with a tap-in following a fine move and doubled his side’s advantage from Juan Mata’s incisive pass.
Rooney set up Robin van Persie for United’s third soon after the interval to more or less seal victory.
Substitue Papiss Cisse grabbed a late consolution goal from the penalty spot for the visitors.
Louis van Gaal’s men remain third, 10 points behind leaders Chelsea, with Newcastle in 10th place.
Further pressure from the hosts followed before Newcastle had a very decent penalty shout ignored, with Yoan Gouffran clipped from behind by Mata. Referee Mike Jones decided that the contact did not equate to a foul, much to Alan Pardew’s distaste.
The end-to-end nature of the affair continued, with Robin van Persie shooting wide from a tight angle and David De Gea tipping over a fierce Daryl Janmaat drive.
Radamel Falcao went close to doubling United’s lead with a header from Ashley Young’s in-swinging delivery before Rooney was more successful, finishing neatly after being found by Mata, who easily cut open the exposed Newcastle defence.
The visitors got their reward with three minutes remaining, when Cisse slotted an excellent penalty into the top corner, after Phil Jones had taken down Jack Colback.
Man United, though, were able to see out the clash without any further problems.
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