Manchester United FC

• Founded:1878
• Manager:Sir Alex Ferguson

• Ground:Old Trafford
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United ease to Magpies victory

16 Aug 2010 - 22:15:26

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Manchester United have started their 2010/11 Premier League campaign in fine style with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Newcastle United at Old Trafford on Monday evening.

Paul Scholes rolled back the years as he put in a stunning performance by creating two goals in the romp as the Red Devils responded to Chelsea's 6-0 win over West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.

Chris Hughton's Newcastle refused to be overawed on their return to the top-flight in the opening exchanges and they should have taken an early lead.

After striker Andy Carroll won a corner of Nemanja Vidic, the towering front man met Joey Barton's flag kick perfectly only to nod wide of Edwin Van Der Sar's goal from six yards.

The Magpies were lifted by the missed chance as Carroll, Wayne Routledge, Jonas Gutierrez and Jose Enrique offered an attacking threat.

To the delight of the Old Trafford faithful, former Manchester City man Barton was the first in the book for a scything challenge on Nani and the Red Devils winger brought a clumsy foul out of James Perch, who saw yellow from referee Chris Foy soon after.

Sir Alex Ferguson's sluggish outfit started to force the issue midway through the first half as Scholes saw plenty of the ball and Wayne Rooney looked threatening with Nani and Antonio Valencia making inroads.

After 33 minutes, the hosts opened the scoring after Gutierrez lost out to Valencia deep in his own half.

He found Scholes and the former England man threaded a fine through ball for Dimitar Berbatov and, as Enrique failed to cut it out, the Bulgarian fizzed an effort across goalkeeper Steve Harper and into the far corner of the net.

With the interval approaching, hard-working midfielder Darren Fletcher doubled their advantage after Rooney touched a left wing cross into his path, allowing him to slot home the easiest of chances from close range.

After the break, Ferguson's men controlled proceedings with slick and precise passing that opened up a slow and static Newcastle back line with ease.

Scholes orchestrated in the centre of the park and a confident Berbatov played with confidence and freedom as they further upped the ante.

A synonymous mis-timed Scholes challenge on Kevin Nolan earned him a yellow card and Fletcher was cautioned for a lunging tackle on Barton, much to his bemusement.

Rooney's evening came to an end just after the hour mark as he was replaced by new hot talent Javier Hernandez and he posed a threat with his sheer athleticism in advanced positions.

Berbatov almost grabbed his second of the evening with ten minutes to go as he burst through on goal, but Harper thwarted him at the vital moment.

Substitute Ryan Giggs notched a well-earned third of the evening as his downward volley from Scholes' angled ball crept beyond Harper's despairing dive and into the far corner to add the gloss on an exceptional performance.