MAN UNITED (4-2-3-1): Romero 5; Darmian 6 (Valencia 77), Smalling 6, Blind 6, Shaw 5; Schweinsteiger 5 (Carrick 59, 6), Schneiderlin 5; Mata 5, DEPAY 8, Januzaj 4 (Hernandez 67, 6); Rooney 4.

Subs (not used): Johnstone (gk), McNair, Herrera, Young.

 

NEWCASTLE (4-2-3-1):

8 Krul: Made three excellent saves in the first 20 minutes, and produced an even better one to deny Hernandez late on

8 Mbemba: Showcased his versatility as he switched across to right-back and won some very important tackles

8 Taylor: Performed superbly as he returned to make his first start of the season and made a succession of crucial blocks in the area

9 COLOCCINI: He might have endured a troubled pre-season, but any doubts about his commitment to the cause were blown away by this display

7 Haidara: Cut out the errors that sometimes pepper his game and defended astutely to contain the dangerous Mata

8 Anita: Produced one of his best displays in a Newcastle shirt as he worked away tirelessly to protect the back four

6 Colback: Held his position well and closed down his opponents with relish, but wasn’t always razor-sharp with his passing

7 Perez: More than justified his place in the side as he retained the ball well and covered a huge amount of ground on the flank

6 Wijnaldum: Proved he is not afraid to get his hands dirty with some defensive work, but wasn’t really able to offer an attacking threat

6 Obertan: His defensive work couldn’t be questioned, but he didn’t really make the most of the limited attacking openings that came his way

8 Mitrovic: Made a hugely impressive first start and almost broke the deadlock with a header that crashed against the crossbar

 

Subs:

Thauvin (for Obertan, 69): Didn’t looked overawed on his Newcastle debut and almost converted Cisse’s late cross 6

Tiote (for Perez, 77)

Cisse (for Mitrovic, 88)

(not used): Darlow (gk), Williamson, Aarons, de Jong.

 

Man Of The Match: FABRICIO COLOCCINI – He might have struggled at Swansea seven days earlier, but this was the Newcastle skipper back to his very best.