Baby-Faced Assassin shoots down Magpies

Manchester United shrugged sorry Newcastle aside at Old Trafford, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer netting twice as the Red Devils romped back to the Barclays Premiership summit.

Not since April 2003 has Solskjaer found the net in league combat at the Theatre of Dreams but the 33-year-old showed all his old instinct to put the Red Devils ahead before half-time before sending Nemanja Vidic's volley looping into the net two minutes into the second period.

So poor were the Magpies, the only disappointment for United, aside from an injury to Gabriel Heinze, was their failure to score more often.

Cristiano Ronaldo in particular endured a frustrating afternoon, striking the frame of Newcastle's goal on three separate occasions as he tortured their defence.

The excellent Darren Fletcher was also denied by the woodwork, and the agility of visitors' keeper Steve Harper, who pulled off a string of fine saves to keep the margin of defeat within reasonable proportions.

As a contest, it was a massive disappointment, with Newcastle barely contributing as an attacking force and an anticipated midfield scrap between England past and future never materialising.

Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt, making his first appearance at Old Trafford since leaving United two years ago, both have vast experience at international level to call on.

Indeed, Scholes' talents are still so obvious, Steve McClaren called him again last week to see if there was any chance he might reverse his decision to retire from the England scene.

Given Scholes' vehement desire to spend as much time as possible with his family and away from the limelight, it could hardly have been a surprise to McClaren the answer was no.

So, with Owen Hargreaves' broken leg ruling him out of next week's encounter Macedonia, Michael Carrick and Scott Parker lined up against each other knowing an England cap might rest on the outcome of their personal duel.

In the event, both men were totally overshadowed, not just by Ronaldo, who continues to respond in the most positive manner imaginable to the jeers of opposition fans, but Fletcher as well.

The Scottish international has had plenty of detractors over the past 12 months, many of them United fans.

However, few could doubt Fletcher's guts and determination and his energy helped drive United forward in their search for a deserved opener.

Until United finally made the breakthrough, Fletcher had gone closest to scoring, steaming up alongside Wayne Rooney and Ronaldo, who combined to set him up for a 20-yard shot which thudded against Harper's right-hand post.

Although he could hardly claim to have been overworked, Harper was kept fairly busy and he needed to keep his nerve to hold a vicious Ronaldo free-kick which dipped right in front of him.

Just as it seemed the visitors would reach half-time on level terms, their defence was exposed by Ronaldo's quick thinking.

The Portugal winger darted across to take a short corner and, after exchanging passes with Patrice Evra, embarked on an arcing run to the edge of the area.

Once there, he let fly with a shot which proved to be the first of three shots from Ronaldo alone which came crashing back off the frame of the visitors' goal.

On this occasion, Solskjaer was on hand to tap home the rebound.

While the Norwegian could rightly claim his own poacher's instinct was responsible for that effort, his second was purely a case of being in the right place at the wrong time as far as Newcastle were concerned.

Vidic is still waiting for his first United goal but the volley he unleashed from Rio Ferdinand's knockdown two minutes after the restart might have opened his account. Instead, it struck Solskjaer, then looped into the corner.

Suddenly, the Red Devils were flying. Harper saved superbly from Fletcher, with Ronaldo blasting the rebound against the bar when he should have done better.

Ronaldo struck the post yet again when, not for the first time, his mesmerising skill outwitted Stephen Carr, then Fletcher had a plausible penalty claim turned down when Taylor appeared to turn the Scot's shot away with an arm.

In the end though, United's outstanding midfield pair had to let Solskjaer take the goalscoring acclaim from a dominant performance which suggests Chelsea will face a meaningful challenge in their quest for a title hat-trick.