3 Talking Points From Manchester United 3-1 Newcastle United: Old Trafford Has Found Its Voice

Manchester United became the first side to win 50 League games on Boxing Day thanks to a brace from Wayne Rooney and another for Robin Van Persie as they saw off Newcastle United 3-1. The visitors didn’t make the most of their bright start as they were punished as Rooney scored a brace before half-time. The Dutch striker scored his fifth goal in six Premier League games before Papiss Cisse converted a penalty to give the visitors a consolation.

Here are the major talking points from the game.

1. Has Van Gaal found a solution to the midfield problem?

Ever since Paul Scholes hung up his boots, the Red Devils have been on a mission, to find a suitable replacement for the United legend. While a few have tried, none have been able to nail down a spot in the starting berth. With his accurate diagonal balls, innate ability to go short or long and ghost into the box and score goals from midfield, it looks as though they had the replacement all along.

While it is only a temporary fix, Rooney has excelled at being the creative fulcrum of the side from midfield. Against Newcastle, he was afforded the time and space to work his magic and the club captain didn’t disappoint as he scored two and set up the other to seal all three points for his side. While he has always shown that he can play in midfield, whether he wants to permanently is a completely different issue and that is one that Van Gaal might have to tackle very soon as his injured players return to full fitness.

2. Manchester United starting to click into gear

Although the Red Devils won six games in a row, there weren’t too many that were talking up their chances of winning the League. While they were winning, which was a good sign, their performances were far from convincing. In fact, aside from the game against Hull, the Red Devils didn’t dominate any other game during that winning run and were only winning thanks to some sublime performances in both boxes by Messrs. David De Gea and Robin Van Persie.

But against Newcastle, they gave their most convincing performance so far, as they extended their unbeaten to eight games. With Carrick and Rooney in midfield, they had two players who had the ability to play penetrative forward passes. And in Falcao and Van Persie up front, they had two of the most clinical finishers in Europe who dovetailed their movement throughout the game to perfection. Although their defense is still under-strength, with Ashley Young whipping in balls from the left flank, it provided United with so many different options in attack, that the visitors simply couldn’t handle.

3. Old Trafford has found its voice

After a disastrous home campaign last time around, when it looked as though the aura around Old Trafford was gone, the supporters were hoping for a change. So when the Red Devils lost their opening home game of the season to Swansea, many feared the worst. But since then, United have won all but one of their home games, and the only one they drew was against Chelsea side who are 10 points clear at the top of the table.

Although the performances at home haven’t always been convincing, Van Gaal’s side have found a way to win. They have shown plenty of resilience and that has resulted in the fans rooting for the team and creating an atmosphere that was largely missing last season. No team has scored more league goals at home this season than United ad if they can keep up their form, the visiting teams will start to think twice about going at United, which will only make the atmosphere better and the team more likely to succeed at home.