Barnes Brace Seals Historic Double as Newcastle Thump Manchester United

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Newcastle United delivered a commanding performance at St James’ Park to secure a 4-1 victory over Manchester United, completing their first league double over the Red Devils since the 1930-31 season.

It was a night to remember for Harvey Barnes, whose second-half brace proved decisive in a match that saw Newcastle not only dominate the scoreline but also the overall play. Despite Joelinton having an early goal ruled out inside the opening minute, the Magpies struck first through Sandro Tonali, whose crisp volley capped off a flowing team move in the 23rd minute.

Manchester United briefly clawed their way back into the contest, with Alejandro Garnacho finding the net before half-time to level the score. However, any hope of a Red Devils resurgence was quickly extinguished in the second half.

Just four minutes after the restart, Barnes capitalised on a clever pass from Jacob Murphy to restore Newcastle’s lead. The winger then doubled both his tally and his side’s advantage just after the hour mark, taking full advantage of a slip by Noussair Mazraoui to slot home his second.

A defensive error from Manchester United further compounded their misery, as Altay Bayindir’s misplaced clearance ricocheted off Joelinton and fell kindly for Bruno Guimarães, who made no mistake from close range to seal the 4-1 scoreline.

The win marks a historic feat for Newcastle, who became the fourth team to complete a league double over Manchester United this season—joining Brighton, Nottingham Forest, and Tottenham. It’s the first time since the 1957-58 campaign that so many teams have done so against the Red Devils in a single league season.

Since their 4-0 win over Leicester on December 14th, Newcastle have surged up the Premier League table, winning 12 of their last 16 games (L4). Only Liverpool have picked up more points (41) in that span, having played two additional games.

Jason Tindall’s side were clinical and composed throughout, finishing with an expected goals (xG) value of 2.09 and converting more than half of their shots on target. In contrast, Manchester United struggled to make an impact in the final third, generating just 0.61 xG and rarely troubling Nick Pope in goal.

With the win, Newcastle leapfrog into fourth place ahead of their next fixture against Crystal Palace. Manchester United, meanwhile, remain mired in 13th and will look to regroup before hosting Wolves on Sunday following their Europa League clash with Lyon.

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