SOCCER: Newcastle United 1 Manchester United 3 Manchester United should consider moving here. This was a third consecutive win at St James' Park and when Wayne Rooney slammed in the third in injury time it was their 11th goal in those three games.
The result may not have Chelsea twitching, Jose Mourinho's side have an 11-point advantage over Ferguson's. But for the United manager the most important feature was that the gap did not become 14 points.
That would have eaten into even his players' famous self-belief and, though a 3-1 win over a Newcastle United side experiencing some self-doubt is hardly the cause for rekindling hope of a ninth United title in 13 years, there is proof, to use a Bobby Robsonism, of fight in the big red dog.
The fixture list until Christmas, moreover, featuring Charlton, Southampton and Crystal Palace at Old Trafford, West Brom and Fulham away, offers United the opportunity to nibble away should Chelsea or Arsenal drop points.
It is too early to think of United hauling in Chelsea the way they did Arsenal two years ago - when the gap after 13 games was seven points - but air punched with vigour at the end by Ferguson and co was a sign of a word he later used: "Intent."
"Today's performance will do nothing but encourage them," Ferguson said of his players. "Some of our football was excellent. Winning today was good for us; this is a very difficult place to come."
The statistics indicate otherwise. Having gone two league games without a goal, St James' was the place to go, particularly as Newcastle have conceded an average of three goals a game over their last four in the league.
Robson, it so happens, was back at the stadium for a Newcastle match for the first time since his August sacking and he saw his successor Graeme Souness endure a third Premiership defeat in a row.
The collective growl at the end from home fans did not equal that of last Sunday, when Fulham won 4-1, and the antagonism aimed towards Souness from unbelieving home supporters all last week is likely to be soothed by some sympathy.
Newcastle played with defiance if not flow and can claim it was a debatable non-decision by the referee Mike Dean that altered a game poised at 1-1. Then Rooney appeared to push Andy O'Brien as the two challenged for a bouncing ball. O'Brien ceded possession, Rooney collected it and crossed towards the penalty-spot of the Newcastle area. Shay Given flapped, Paul Scholes moved in to contest the ball and, as Given flailed again, Scholes went to ground.
The referee, having enraged the locals by not giving the foul on O'Brien, pointed to the spot. Ruud van Nistelrooy stepped up and found the bottom corner.
Though Alan Shearer missed by inches with a 35th-minute volley after Rio Ferdinand had comically allowed the ball to slide through him, and Patrick Kluivert had a couple of first-half half-chances, Roy Carroll made only one telling save, that from a third-minute Shearer free-kick.
The home side were aided by the visitors' willingness to retreat. Roy Keane and Scholes were often back among their defenders as Newcastle laboured forward. The Mancunians had room to give. Rooney's seventh-minute opener not only ended their relatively long goalless spell, just over three hours, it established their confidence.
Darren Fletcher, lively in the first half, chipped a 20-yard pass over Olivier Bernard into the Newcastle area. Titus Bramble should have seen the danger much earlier and closed it down but he did not and Rooney met Fletcher's pass first-time on the volley. Given was beaten.
On 71 minutes, with Wes Brown on for the injured Mikael Silvestre, Shearer saw an opportunity in Brown's hesitation.
Robbing Brown near the touchline, Shearer turned and ran goalward. Gabriel Heinze slipped at a vital moment and suddenly Shearer was 16 yards out with only Carroll to beat. His 10th goal of the season duly arrived.
But then came Rooney's nudge and, in the third minute of injury-time, he made it 3-1 after Bramble had scrambled a van Nistelrooy shot off the line.
Guardian Service
