A brace from Wayne Rooney and a strike from Robin van Persie have guided Manchester United to a comfortable 3-1 win over Newcastle United in their Boxing Day match at Old Trafford.
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The Magpies had a good chance to open the scoring in the 12th minute as Adam Armstrong beat his man down the right and crossed in for the unmarked Ayoze Perez, but the striker missed the ball completely with an attempted volley.
Newcastle had a great shout for a penalty turned down by referee Mike Jones as Juan Mata appeared to clip the legs of Yoan Gouffran as he raided into the box in a surging move.
The Red Devils immediately pressed at the opposite end as Van Persie was released by a ball over the top of the Newcastle defence. The striker rounded Jak Alnwick, but his strike from a tight ankle hit the side-netting.
Daryl Janmaat came close to firing his side into the lead with a powerful drive from the edge of the area, but his strike was well saved by David de Gea.
The Spaniard's stop proved to be crucial as United went ahead in the 23rd minute when Mata picked out the run of Radamel Falcao over the top, and the forward did extremely well to slide the ball back to Rooney, who was left with a simple tap-in.
United doubled their lead as Rooney notched his second goal of the game when he latched on to a through-ball from Mata and slotted the ball past Alnwick into the bottom corner.
In the second half, Louis van Gaal's side put the game out of Newcastle's reach with their third goal as Rooney lifted a pinpoint cross into the box for the head of Van Persie, who found the bottom corner.
The Red Devils came close to adding a fourth goal when they were awarded a free kick right on the edge of the box. Rooney lifted the ball over the top of the wall, but his strike had just too much power and skimmed the roof of the net.
Perez came close to getting a goal back for his side when he raided down the right and cut inside into the box, but his strike towards the near post was saved by the feet of De Gea.
Newcastle were handed the chance to score a consolation goal when they were awarded a penalty late in the game, which was converted by Papiss Cisse as he found the top corner from the spot.
Simon Sinclair
