Joe Willock put two glaring misses behind him to send a dominant Newcastle on their way to a deserved 2-0 win over a toothless Manchester United and third place in the table
Newcastle midfielder Willock saw one huge opportunity saved by David de Gea on the floor before blazing another effort over before half-time, but he responded with the opener on 65 minutes by heading in from close range after a slick move from the hosts
Substitute Callum Wilson then put the icing on the cake, heading in a second from a set-piece with three minutes to go to bring Champions League football next season a little closer to St James' Park
In truth, the Magpies should have put more past Erik ten Hag's side, who started Marcus Rashford after he missed international duty with England but only managed one shot on target in a limp display
The result also means Manchester United could slide down to fifth in the Premier League table should Tottenham avoid defeat at Everton on , though Spurs would have played two games more than their top-four rivals
Speaking to  after the game, Ten Hag branded the visitors' performance as "not good enough" as they "created nothing"
"I hate to say it, they were better today," he said
 "Especially in determination, passion and desire
 They wanted to win more this week
 So they won
"We had our opportunities but then you have to go for goal with the determination they did
 It wasn't good enough
 We allowed them too many chances
 In the past we were better
 You have to be hungry, give everything, every game
"We didn't break them
 That is the conclusion, we didn't create good chances
 Best chance is for Anthony Marital on the equaliser
 Not good enough
"How Newcastle failed to find the net in the first half was anyone's guess
 Howe's side dominated proceedings as Manchester United failed to record a shot on target before half-time for the first time this season
Sean Longstaff had the first chance of the afternoon as he took down Alexander Isak's knockdown in the box well but miskicked his effort from 12 yards out
But the best chance of the half came on 16 minutes, when Isak headed Jacob Murphy's cross goalwards from six yards out
 De Gea parried the effort only as far as the onrushing Willock, whose rebounded effort bounced off the Man United goalkeeper and away
Newcastle kept the pressure on for most of the first half, seeing Murphy blaze over, while Isak was denied by a strong block by the recovering Raphael Varane from inside the box
Longstaff tried his luck from 20 yards out, his fierce strike whistling just over De Gea's top corner, and Willock then wasted a second gilt-edged chance of the game
Allan Saint-Maximin, who caused the right hand side of the visiting defence all sorts of problems all afternoon, went on a mazy run before pulling the ball back to the Newcastle midfielder, who was leaning back as he fired over from a similar position to his first chance
Meanwhile, Manchester United's only notable efforts from the first half came from Wout Weghorst hitting the side netting early on and Antony acrobatically volleyed over from a corner when a simpler finish was on
The visitors finally registered a shot on target as Antony curled an effort straight at Nick Pope - but it wasn't long until Newcastle found their deserved opener
A superb move saw Isak feed Bruno Guimaraes on the right wing, the Brazilian then clipping a ball to Saint-Maximin at the back post
The Frenchman nodded back for Willock to finally break De Gea's resistance, sending St James' Park into raptures
The Magpies came close to a second goal when substitute Joelinton forced De Gea to tip onto the bar, with Fabien Schar heading the rebound onto the post
Then came some sort of life from the visitors
 Fernandes' long ball forwards saw Anthony Martial teed up in the box, but the substitute's effort was deflected just wide with Pope wrong-footed
Another substitute, Victor Lindelof, headed over the resulting corner as United's replacements offered more threat than their starters had all gameBut Newcastle ended up getting that result-sealing second, as Wilson nodded in Trippier's delivery late on
Speaking to after the match, several Newcastle players spoke about the relief of getting revenge for losing the Carabao Cup final to Manchester United 35 days earlier
"It's really special," said defender Dan Burn about the win
 "For a long time, we've always disliked Manchester United
 We've owed them one this season, so it was good to get the win today
"As a Newcastle fan we were desperate to get the win
 Over the seasons this [fixture] has always been one where we want to beat Manchester United
""I feel like we owed them one after the cup final," added goalscorer Willock
 "We didn't take that lightly so we came out and stuck to our game plan
 It's a big three points
"Losing a cup final hurts a lot you know? So we took that anger into this game
 From the start, we dominated play
 I could have even scored more and was disappointed not to come in with a goal or two
"Even opposition manager Ten Hag could sense Newcastle's desire to get revenge
"I saw with them a desire, they wanted revenge and they got it," said the Manchester United manager
 "We have to leave it behind, it's a setback and [we need to] learn from this lesson about passion and desire
"It was billed as the battle of the Brunos - and the Newcastle one came out on top
Both Guimaraes and Fernandes ended up with exactly the same amount of touches in the game - but it was what the players did with and without the ball that mattered
The Newcastle midfielder put in the perfect all-round display that earned him man-of-the-match
 He won four times as many balls in the middle of the park than Fernandes and completed more final third passes and take-ons than anyone on the pitch
And the Brazilian's involvement in Joe Willock's first goal for Newcastle in their 2-0 win over Manchester United cannot be overstated
Taking linking up well with Alexander Isak before putting in a delightful second assist, it summed up how Guimaraes is at the centre of everything good that Newcastle do
It was a moment on Sunday that Fernandes could only watch on and dream of
 Manchester United lacked passion and determination at St James Park - that's according to their own manager and left-back
 A reminder that Fernandes was the one wearing the armband… now embark on a run of three challenging away days, starting at  on Wednesday night, kick-off 8pm
The Magpies then go to  and on the following two Saturdays, before hosting  on April 23, live on 
, on the other hand, have their next three matches at home
 are the visitors to Old Trafford on Wednesday night, kick-off 8pm, while and - the latter arriving for the Europa League quarter-final - will also visit the Theatre of Dreams in the next 10 days
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