Juan Mata scored twice as Manchester United warmed up for the second leg of their Champions League against Bayern Munich with a comfortable 4-0 victory over Newcastle in the Premier League at St James’ Park on Saturday.
The Red Devils made eight changes from the side that drew 1-1 with Bayern Munich in midweek, while Newcastle lined up Davide Santon, Dan Gosling and Luuk de Jong as Both sides struggled to create chances in the opening minutes of the game.
The £37million Spaniard curled home a superb 20-yard free-kick on 39 minutes to leave keeper Rob Elliot grasping thin air and added a second from close range five minutes after the break following good work from Javier Hernandez.
Javier Hernandez, who celebrated a rare start, made it 3-0 with 25 minutes remaining before Mata finished a memorable afternoon with a lovely backheel to gift Adnan Januzaj a stoppage-time fourth.
“We played well and scored some really good goals. I’m really pleased with the performance.” Manchester United manager David Moyes said after the match.
“Juan Mata got us a couple of goals and he was involved in the final one for Adnan Januzaj as well. He was terrific all day for us – so were Shinji Kagawa and Darren Fletcher. We had some great performances.
“I’ve said all season that I believe we have a really good squad of players and we showed that today. They played well and deserved the victory.
“The focus could only be on this game but you could see we’ve left a few players at home and not played a few players, and we are hoping they will be fit for Wednesday night’s game at Bayern Munich.”
“It was a tough afternoon for us. We weren’t at our best. “Newcastle manager Alan Pardew
“We are lacking a bit of quality at the moment and we are trying to get that on the pitch. We had some good effort and commitment, certainly better than Southampton, but I’m afraid it wasn’t good enough against a decent Manchester United.
“We have got loads of players missing and it is really hurting us at the minute. We are desperate to get another three points, a win and a goal for them [the fans] but it is just not happening for us at the moment.”
Match facts
Newcastle: Elliot , Santon , Williamson, Coloccini, Haidara, Anita, Gosling, Tiote, Gouffran (Sh Ameobi 85), De Jong 4 (Ben Arfa 61, Cisse .
Subs not used: Yanga-Mbiwa, Taylor, Dummett, Alnwick, Armstrong.
Booked: Tiote.
Manager: Alan Pardew
Man United: Lindegaard , Valencia , Jones, Evra (Buttner 64), Young (Januzaj 18), Fletcher, Fellaini(Nani 70), Mata , Kagawa , Hernandez.
Subs not used: De Gea, Vidic, Cleverley, Wilson.
Goals: Mata 39, 50, Hernandez 64, Januzaj 90.
Manager: David Moyes
Referee: Kevin Friend
Sokka.