Two early Newcastle goals were enough to condemn Manchester United to a fourth successive defeat under Ruben Amorim.
Alexander Isak and Joelinton broke through the Red Devils' backline in the early stages to form a defensive line A rare victory for the Magpies at Old Trafford. United recovered in the second half, but Newcastle managed to maintain their advantage without much fanfare.
Chelsea's defeat to Ipswich means Newcastle are now just three points behind the Blues in fourth place, while United remain in 14th place ahead of a daunting trip to Anfield next Sunday.
How the game unfolded
Newcastle came into Monday night's match in top scoring form, and Amorim's selection for his team would have encouraged the Magpies. The visitors had their way with United from the start, with the midfield trio of Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali and Joelinton outplaying the Red Devils' veteran duo of Casemiro and Christian Eriksen in every way imaginable.
It took the in-form visitors less than four minutes to open the scoring as Alexander Isak continued his impressive goalscoring run with a header from Lewis Hall's wicked cross. The Swede was unchallenged as he finished from close range, with Lisandro Martinez – United's captain on the night – picking up the challenge from the Newcastle striker.
The Argentine was at least able to compete with the onrushing Joelinton when he tried to convert Anthony Gordon's cross, but Martinez was in no position to win the duel and although the ball appeared to go in through Joelinton's arm, the VAR chose not to intervene and it was Newcastle. Two goals for Al Khair in 19 minutes.
This was one-way traffic and it should have been worse for the Amorim side before the manager decided to change his approach and bring on Kobbie Mainoo for Joshua Zirkzee after 30 minutes. The Dutchman's exit was greeted by widespread cheers around Old Trafford that seemed harsh on his arrival in the summer – even if he had started the game poorly.
The change at least helped United stem the flow and they had their first positive moment in attack shortly after Maino's introduction. But Ramsus Hoglund shot wide after latching on to Martinez's pass in behind.
Casemiro then wasted a golden opportunity at the end of the first half after an unfortunate giveaway from Fabian Schar. The Brazilian elected to finish the match first-time from a Maino pass, but his effort was deflected wide of the target even though he had all the time in the world to convert it.
There was continued improvement from the Amorim side after half-time, with Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt the next pair for the Red Devils to come very close to halving the deficit just before the hour mark.
Substitute Lenny Euro was the next United midfielder to see goal, but the young Frenchman headed wide from Eriksen's corner kick. It was the last notable moment in both boxes, as Newcastle fell short but did not need to test Andre Onana in the second half. There was some focus on Marcus Rashford, who has returned to the Amorim side, but the Englishman did not take to the field on Monday night as United suffered a fourth successive defeat.
This was always going to be a difficult task for United given the weaknesses they continued to display under new management, but Amorim's choice of midfield set the Red Devils up for failure.
The Portuguese coach was without suspended duo Bruno Fernandes and Manuel Ugarte meaning he had limited options, but his decision to start veteran duo Casemiro and Christian Eriksen at the pivot was a major contributor to their terrible start on Monday night.
There were countless issues, but Newcastle's overload in midfield was the most obvious. The trio of Guimarães, Tonali and Joelinton have impressed in recent weeks, and they ran the show in the first 30 minutes here. United's aging axis was constantly stretched and relentlessly overloaded. The duo must have been looking on with envy as the Newcastle technicians gathered around them seamlessly before feeding the likes of Isak and Gordon to torment a weak backline.
“Remember when we could do that, old friend?”
Newcastle's superiority forced Amorim into a clear substitution in the 30th minute, and Joshua Zirkzee's withdrawal led to a rather ugly sequence that included widespread chanting and the Dutchman reportedly crying (and humiliated) as he walked down the tunnel.
Kobbie Mainoo was not solely responsible for United's improvement once he entered the fray, but United were at least competitive for the remaining hour.
A string of bands seem to have ended their barren Dream Theater tours in recent years. It was once a stand feared by the entire division, but teams have enjoyed trips to Old Trafford over the past decade.
However, Newcastle have continued to struggle in the red half of Manchester since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement. Prior to Monday's match, the Magpies had won just one match out of their previous 39 trips to United Stadium. Their last victory was in December 2013 when Yohan Cabaye scored the only goal of the match against the Red Devils led by David Moyes.
There was a feeling that Howe's side, given their performance over the past month, were well placed to win at Old Trafford for the third time in the league since 1972. Such predictions were justified early on and it looked as if they'd beat the owners ground, but they were forced to dig in at times during the second half to secure their rare victory.
Chelsea were suddenly just three points better than Howe's side in fourth place.
There has been a lot of discourse around Isak's future at Newcastle in recent months, with reports suggesting that a return to the Champions League may be necessary for the Magpies to retain their star striker in 2025.
Isak is certainly doing everything he can to get the Magpies back into Europe's premier club competition after their group stage exit in their previous adventure two seasons ago.
It took the Swede less than four minutes to score for the sixth successive Premier League game, as he headed home Hall's cross with aplomb. He was denied a second goal later in the first half for offside, but the finish was impressive and a depiction of his current form.
Isaac proved once again at the Theater of Dreams that he is much more than just a goalscorer. There was little United's backline could do to track his forays into retreating forward positions and drift into wide areas, and they were even more impotent when Isak gained possession. He was able to get past consistently optimistic opponents which opened up the home side's defensive structure.
There is no better striker in the Premier League heading into 2025.
