Manchester United cruised to victory on Monday night, defeating Premiership returnees Newcastle United 3-0 at Old Trafford.
Manchester United: 3 (Dimitar Berbatov 33', Darren Fletcher 41', Ryan Giggs 85') Newcastle United: 0
Venue: Old Trafford Crowd: 75,221 Referee: Chris Foy Yellow cards:MU - Paul Scholes 52', Darren Fletcher 56' NU - Joey Barton 18', James Perch 22'
The Red Devils kicked off their season of redemption nicely by dominating the Magpies and it all begun in the 33rd minute when Dimitar Berbatov drilled a low shot from a tight angle after the ball was nudged in front of him by Jose Enrique following a Paul Scholes pass.
The lead was doubled eight minutes when Wayne Rooney failed to control the ball from a Patrice Evra pass but it found its way to Darren Fletcher who turned and struck neatly past Steve Harper.
The match was wrapped up five minutes from time when veteran Ryan Giggs was teed up by old mate Paul Scholes and fired home to make it 3-0.
Starting Line-Ups
MU Edwin van der Sar (gk), Jonathan Evans, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra (Rafael 87'), John O'Shea, Paul Scholes, Darren Fletcher, Nani (Giggs 71'), Antonio Valencia, Dimitar Berbatov, Wayne Rooney (Hernandez 63')
Subs - Tomasz Kuszczak (gk), Michael Carrick, Ryan Giggs (71'), Rafae (87'), Chris Smalling, Federico Macheda, Javier Hernandez (63')
NU Steve Harper (gk), Fabricio Coloccini, Michael Williamson, Jose Enrique, James Perch, Joey Barton, Alan Smith, Kevin Nolan (Ameobi 71'), Jonas Gutierrez (Xisco 81'), Wayne Routledge, Andy Carroll
Subs - Tim Krul (gk), Shola Ameobi (71'), Ryan Taylor, Xisco (81'), Nile Ranger, Haris Vuckic, James Tavernier
