PRESS BOX VIEW - GUARDIAN

Last updated : 15 November 2004 By editor

'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 the Reds' 11th goal in those three games. Sir Alex Ferguson could call it Red Tyneside.

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. United 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 past 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 at Souness by unbelieving home supporters all last week is likely to be tempered with some sympathy.