“HE’s one of our own” was the chant that bellowed from the Gallowgate and then beyond after Matty Longstaff delivered a match-winning goal to warm the cockles of every Newcastle United fan inside St James’ Park.

None more so than a certain Steve Bruce; the head coach who punched the air and turned away with a look of complete satisfaction and pride having decided to hand the 19-year-old his Premier League debut in the hope of it providing the troubled Magpies with a spark. And didn’t it just?

One win, or two if you include the hard-earned away win over Tottenham in August, doesn’t right all the wrongs at Newcastle right now, but how this narrow win over Manchester United was needed and it showed, from the stands and on to the pitch.

While Manchester United’s huge band of travelling support targeted the club’s owners, the Glazers, after another worrying display that sees them stay two points above the relegation zone, Newcastle’s supporters ignored Mike Ashley this time and celebrated Matty Longstaff’s heroics.

The homegrown 19-year-old’s exquisite low winner from outside the area in the 71st minute, having been invited to smash it first time by Jetro Willems' teasing pass, lifted Newcastle up and out of the bottom three a week after being smashed for five at Leicester City.

A lot of soul-searching and criticism has taken place since that afternoon at the King Power and this was a performance, while not brilliant at times, that was full of heart. For Bruce this was also a victory for his tactics, having set his team up to be tighter while still posing plenty of threat in the opposite direction.

It was Newcastle’s most impressive display on home turf since Bruce took over, and it ran the victory at Tottenham close too. Regardless of the problems Manchester United are encountering, it was never a given how the hosts would play after the hammering of seven days earlier.

A lot of negativity – some of it justified - has been hurled in the head coach’s direction since then, as well as the players, and he had to be brave in many respects with his squad selection to face Manchester United and was.

The five changes he made had the desired effect, and there will not be many complaining that Paul Dummett, Jonjo Shelvey, Emil Krafth and Christian Atsu were all dropped to the bench after this. There was not even a place in the 18 for Yoshinori Muto.

That was a clear indication of how Bruce wanted his men to ease the situation, and the contributions of two of the men who he recalled to the starting line-up – Saint-Maximim and Matty Longstaff - could not be under-estimated.

The only annoyance was that Newcastle’s improved display could not earn them the lead before the break deserved, and there must have been fears the elusive goal would not come. They had the chances and that pair in particular were involved in so much of the promising play.

From the moment Allan Saint-Maximim, starting for the first time since picking up a hamstring injury on the opening weekend, picked up possession on half-way and ran at the Manchester United defence in the opening 60 seconds it was clear he was up for the occasion.

His pass that time in behind for Miguel Almiron to run on to ended with a corner being forced and soon after that Matty Longstaff, playing alongside his brother Sean in the middle, displayed his own confidence by firing a crossfield path to DeAndre Yedlin.

Manchester United have not won an away game since March and didn’t manage a shot on target at AZ Alkmaar in midweek. They were also short of the sort of quality they are expected to produce, with Paul Pogba, Anthony Martial, Luke Shaw, Victor Lindelof and Jesse Lingard all missing.

And Newcastle, who many expected to show a greater desire to defend based on Bruce’s pre-match comments, were willing to attack, particularly through Saint-Maximim down the left and he was the first to go close with an effort. He rolled a shot wide after cutting inside and beating two men.

Despite playing with two wingers in Saint-Maximim and Almiron, wing-backs Yedlin and Willems saw plenty of the ball in an attacking sense too, even if they were wary of having to do their defensive duties.

Things looked positive when Matty Longstaff, always making himself available for a pass, shaved the top of David de Gea’s crossbar from 22 yards after flicking up Saint-Maximim’s pass for an inviting half volley.

Fabian Schar, who defended well at the other end, also headed a corner wide on half hour, while had Almiron been full of confidence rather than still waiting for his first Newcastle goal then he is likely to have found the net with a fantastic chance soon after.

The South American, once again hungry to be on the ball, lacked that bit of quality in the final third when Matty Longstaff’s brother Sean’s ball over the top picked him out unmarked. Almiron controlled and when it opened up for him to shoot at goal he took an extra touch and that allowed Harry Maguire to block.

That said, Manchester United should still have been ahead at the break. Maguire, perhaps showing why the Red Devils have not scored from a set-piece this year, somehow glanced a header wide of the upright from six yards when it looked easier for him to score from Ashley Young’s corner.

Having shown plenty of promising signs in the first half – compared to previous games this season – it was all about how Newcastle could build on that after the break. There weren’t as many chances, but the introduction of Andy Carroll ten minutes in for Joelinton gave Manchester United something different to think about.

Yedlin, whose driving run ended with him deep in the final third, created an opening for Sean Longstaff to deliver into the area soon after Carroll entered the field. The towering striker could only power his header over the bar after outmuscling his marker.

After that Manchester United started to look more adventurous going forward and the opening goal arrived at a time when the Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men had started to threaten the goal below the noisy away fans high in the Leazes Stand.

Schar’s role in keeping Newcastle level during that spell should not be under-estimated. Moments after he had done brilliantly to block a Young cross after he had got in behind the defence, the Swiss defender made an incredible block to deny Marcus Rashford from getting on the end of Daniel James’ centre.

How crucial those turned out to be. Seconds later Newcastle countered at speed, and to outstanding effect, having seen a similar move break down not long before.

The excellent Saint-Maximim cleverly picked out Willems down the left. The Dutchman twisted and turned to create the space to roll a pass for the onrushing Matty Longstaff to hammer low and hard inside David de Gea’s bottom right hand corner with 19 minutes left.

After that Manchester United pressed without displaying the required quality to level, summed up by Fred stomping his feet in disgust having failed to control a low pass from Macus Rojo.

While that was going on Saint-Maximim received a standing ovation for leaving the pitch when replaced by Atsu for the final ten, and then the whole team were rightly applauded and praised for seeing the game out for the remaining minutes. Matty Longstaff, hugged by Bruce as he walked off the pitch, was the local hero.