Newcastle 4-1 Man United: Barnes double in second-half hammering helps Magpies move fourth

Newcastle have won five of the last six editions of the fixture

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Three goals inside 29 second-half minutes moved Newcastle back inside the Champions League qualification places with a first league double over Manchester United in 94 years at St James’ Park.

Sandro Tonali met Magpies top scorer Alexander Isak’s lofted pass in emphatic fashion to find the far corner of the net from inside the box and open the scoring after 24 minutes as the hosts looked comfortable early on.

Alejandro Garnacho equalised against the run of play by striking in the culmination of a rapid counter-attack in the 37th minute, but Barnes slotted in from Jacob Murphy’s cross to restore Newcastle’s lead four minutes after the break.

Winger Barnes rampaged through the centre and fired in again 15 minutes later, and captain Bruno Guimaraes completed a 4-1 win with a composed finish after Joelinton intercepted an attempted pass by visiting goalkeeper Altay Bayindir.

Newcastle vs Manchester United: Barnes goals

Barnes has now been directly involved in a goal in each of his last five league starts, although the 27-year-old endured a gap of more than three months between the first and second of those games, partly because of a thigh injury that troubled him in January.

He set up Guimaraes’ winner at West Ham before the international break, provided Tonali with the winner in a 2-1 home victory over Brentford when the Premier League returned and struck in the 3-0 win at Leicester City – his former side – on Monday.

The 27-year-old is playing a prolific part in Newcastle’s increasingly successful quest to return to the Champions League for the second time in three seasons in 2025/26.

They are a point behind third-placed Nottingham Forest with a game in hand after a fifth consecutive win in all competitions, overseen by assistant manager Jason Tindall in the absence of boss Eddie Howe, who is recovering from illness.

Man United: New goalkeeper, old problems

Much of the pre-match focus was on United’s established first-choice goalkeeper, Andre Onana, who was left out of the squad after making mistakes for both goals United conceded in their 2-2 draw at Lyon in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday.

That meant a Premier League debut for Turkiye international Altay Bayindir, who contributed an error of his own on an afternoon to forget.

United were considerable underdogs to procure a positive result and are 14th after a four-game winless run in all competitions.

They play the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final at Old Trafford on Thursday (20:00 BST), a day after Newcastle host Crystal Palace in the Premier League (19:30).

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Picture of Ben Miller

Ben Miller

Ben has more than 10 years' experience in sports journalism, covering two EURO tournaments, European club competitions, the Premier League, EFL and WSL and a variety of other major sporting events.

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