23 mins Adam Armstrong found space down the left and tried to fire in a shot, only for the home side to break and Wayne Rooney spray a pass to Juan Mata. He in turn fed Falcao on the right, who squared the ball across the Newcastle box for Rooney to side-foot into an empty net. 0-1

36 mins Yoan Gouffran's pass was intercepted by Falcao's sliding tackle and when the ball was worked to Mata, he played in Rooney who had time to slot past Jak Alnwick from 12 yards. 0-2

Half time: ManU 2 United 0

53 mins Rooney managed to pick out Robin Van Persie in the box who was able to head back across past Alnwick into the opposite corner of the Stretford End net. 0-3

87 mins Jack Colback pushed into the left hand side of the box and was fouled by Phil Jones for what was a correctly given but soft penalty award. Papiss Cisse took the ball off a hopeful-looking Remy Cabella before expertly finishing from the spot, finding the top corner. 1-3

Full time: ManU 3 United 1

Alan Pardew said:

"The difference between the two sides was the cutting edge of (Manchester) United. They were really good going forward.

"When we over-committed they were clinical. They didn't have a raft of chances today, our goalie only made one save from (Antonio) Valencia and other than that, he didn't have too much to do.

"We would have liked to have put more pressure on them and got more out of the game. We need to defend better than we did today. Today we was a little bit loose.

"We've got two home games now and we need to try and take four points from those games to stabilize our position and then get some players back.

"We've got nine senior players not involved today and it is too many. I've had that for a good two and a half months now. I've got my medical team under full jurisdiction to get some bodies back and maybe in January we need to get one or two in to make sure we push on until the end of the season.

About the first half penalty claim on Gouffran:

"The referee has got a bad call very wrong - I think that was a penalty. 

"I think Mata's run across the back of a player who is going to head the ball across goal. That's a goalscoring opportunity. It was clumsy and that was a penalty.

"The ref gave us a soft penalty (in the second half) out of guilt for the penalty he should have given us.”

Louis Van Gaal:

"When you score two goals and you give the assist to the third goal, then you are happy as the manager. He (Rooney) is very happy also. He has the lung capacity to run 90 minutes as a midfielder that's why I used him also like a midfielder.

"I can also use him as a striker. For the team at the moment, it's better he plays in midfield.

"With FIFA and UEFA's rules it's forbidden to play within 48 hours. In England, it's okay. I cannot prepare my team like I have to prepare. We have unit meetings, and team meetings, we have training 11 against 11, and assimilating opponents, we cannot do that now.

"But I am very pleased with today's performance - to create chances and score fantastic goals like this makes me happy with the performance. 

"We have dominated the game for 90 minutes. That's the most important thing, to dominate, in spite of the opponents having a defensive way of playing."
 

We probably knew that normal service had resumed here and it wasn't going to be our day when Superman fell off his seat as the teams appeared. He and various other fancy dressers were in evidence to cheer on Newcastle, but superheroes were in short supply on the field this time.

Last season's momentous success here was consigned to the history books, as our festive misery was prolonged by a seemingly inevitable fourth successive defeat that was greeted with resignation rather than fury by the 3,000 toon travellers. Like them, they probably expected worse.

Papiss Cisse netted a late penalty, but by then the destination of the points was well and truly decided - Wayne Rooney scoring twice before Robin Van Persie added a third as the Manchester rain fell and Van Gaal's side recorded their eleventh successive Boxing Day win - nine more than us....

Along with his side's appetite for the fight, Rooney had been absent for our Yohan Cabaye inspired victory in 2013 as storm clouds began to gather over David Moyes. However the number 10 appeared in a deep-lying role for the Red Devils here to supply routine first-half finishes for his eleventh and twelfth career strikes against Newcastle.  

But Alan Pardew's side got off to a bright start and could even have been in front before a 23rd minute opening goal that began with a failed attempt at the other end. Yoan Gouffran was tripped in the box by Juan Mata and referee, Mike Jones, had a clear view of the incident but waved play on as the official once again seemed to have it in for the grey-clad Magpies - penalising Ayoze Perez for an identical incident in the same part of the field within minutes.

Daryl Janmaat also had a rasping effort saved by David De Gea and Perez should have done better with a cross from Adam Armstrong - starting his first Premier League game for the Magpies, aged just 17. But when the youngster found space down the left and tried to fire in a shot, the home side broke with pace and Falcao was able to square the ball across for Rooney to side-foot home.

A second followed 13 minutes later and again the visitor's defence was carved open when Gouffran's pass was intercepted, Mata playing in Rooney who had time to slot past Jak Alnwick. That gave the first period an unfair scoreline but Alan Pardew's side started the second looking to get back into the game and forced an early corner.

Just seven minutes into the half though, Rooney managed to pick out Robin Van Persie in the box who was able to head back across past Alnwick into the opposite corner of the Stretford End net.

That finished the game as a contest but Armstrong almost got one back when he controlled the ball on the edge of the box before firing narrowly wide. Cisse replaced him soon after and Remy Cabella came on for the incapacitated Paul Dummett, although the changes failed to spark a revival.

There was late consolation for Pardew's side when Jack Colback was fouled by Phil Jones and Cisse took the ball off the hopeful-looking Cabella before expertly finishing. By then Pardew had handed Haris Vuckic his first taste of top-flight action in three years as Emmanuel Riviere looked on. Quite what's going on with the latter remains to be seen with the manager admitting he was in need of striking reinforcements in his post-match press conference. 

That of course begs the question, just what is going on with Facundo Ferreyra? Absent from the squad today as usual and now missing from the reserves, the unwanted Vuckic is now clearly ahead of the Argentinean phantom - even Jonas Gutierrez on track to return before Ferreyra is risked. 

In the way that Hull jettisoned the unsuitable Hatem Ben Arfa, surely Newcastle will banish FF back to Donetsk once the calendar changes? If that doesn't happen and he's thrown in against Leicester in the FA Cup, will the Magpies automatically be landed with a charge of fielding a weakened team? 

Back to Old Trafford though and this defeat was complete after four minutes of added time, leaving the away contingent to brave wind, rain, ice and snow as they returned across the M62 - one bus getting into difficulties and arriving 12 hours late after an overnight layover at Birch Services.

It's now a case of home comforts as we bid farewell to 2014 and usher in 2015, but the manager was prepared only to stick his neck out and target four points from Everton and Burnley.

Hopefully his players will have a little more adventure and warm the cockles of 100,000 black and whiters who have endured successive bouts of hot air about putting things right after the losses to Arsenal, Spurs, the mackems and now Manchester United. Actions speak louder than words. 

Biffa