There was no trophy at full-time, but Newcastle United well and truly exorcised some Wembley demons on Sunday. In the words of Dan Burn: "We owed them one."
Five weeks on from that painful Carabao Cup final defeat, Newcastle savoured a 2-0 victory of their own. While the Magpies have had one or two memorable wins against Manchester United in recent years, this felt different. This was an afternoon of utter dominance at a raucous St James' Park - Newcastle had 22 shots, six times as many shots on target and nearly twice as many corners - as Eddie Howe's side leapfrogged Manchester United into third place.
How fitting that Joe Willock and Callum Wilson popped up with the goals in the second half. These survivors from the Ashley era epitomised Newcastle's perseverance and ambition respectively against the Red Devils.
READ MORE: Newcastle send statement to Manchester United and Eddie Howe stands up to Erik ten Hag- 5 things
Having spurned two big opportunities before the break, it was Willock who nodded Newcastle in front midway through the second half after refusing to let his head drop following his earlier misses. Yet, far from running down the clock, Eddie Howe's side then went for a killer second. Callum Wilson was one of four attacking substitutions Howe threw on after going in front and the striker sealed all three points in the 88th minute with a header of his own from Kieran Trippier's free-kick to leave supporters dreaming of the Champions League.
That dream may soon become a reality and the manner of this convincing win felt like the perfect riposte to Erik ten Hag's repeated jibes about Newcastle's game management tactics in recent months. The usually measured Howe even felt the need to stand up to the Manchester United boss on the touchline after a frustrated ten Hag had taken issue with Nick Pope taking his time with a goal kick late on. How ironic, then, that David de Gea had been doing the very same thing when it was goalless.
"I'll always stand up for my team," Howe told reporters. "I'll always stand up for what I believe is right and that is what I was doing."
No wonder ten Hag cut a frustrated figure. Fabian Schar ultimately had more touches (four) in the opposition box than Marcus Rashford, Bruno Fernandes and Jadon Sancho combined (three). That Rashford flung his boot to the turf in anger at one point told its own story.
Newcastle, in contrast, tasted sweet revenge, moving above Manchester United and Spurs in the table, and opening up an eight-point lead on Liverpool in the race to qualify for the Champions League. There may still be 11 games to go but, to put this campaign into perspective, Newcastle have already surpassed their points total for the whole of last season and hit 50 points for the first time since 2012. And they are not done yet.
This certainly did not feel like a one-off win and a longstanding rivalry has been reignited. For the first time in a long while, Newcastle are going toe-to-toe with Manchester United at the top end of the table.
With that in mind, it was rather telling that ten Hag resorted to some mind games once more before Sunday's contest. After labelling Newcastle an 'annoying' team before the Carabao Cup final 35 days previously, ten Hag doubled down on those comments ahead of this game. Not only did ten Hag describe Newcastle's game management tactics as a 'concern' - the Manchester United boss called on referee Stuart Attwell to be 'consistent to let the game go'.
If Howe felt ten Hag's previous remarks were 'overblown', well, the Newcastle head coach won't have needed any added motivation on Sunday after stressing 'first and foremost, we want to be a good football team'. That is before you even mention what happened at Wembley.
The pain of that 2-0 defeat under the arch has stuck with players and staff alike and Callum Wilson spoke of how 'we've got to right the wrong'. Captain Jamaal Lascelles went as far as to say 'we're desperate to win'. Even Howe admitted 'we are well-aware of the importance of this game'.
The big question was who would get the chance to make amends. Although Joelinton was available for the first time in nearly a month, following his two-match ban, Howe opted to stick with the starting line-up which pulled off a spirited win at Nottingham Forest last time out.
That XI quickly picked up from where they left off and there were just six minutes on the clock when Kieran Trippier's cross was headed back across goal by Alexander Isak. However, Sean Longstaff' subsequent effort was blocked by Lisandro Martinez inside the box.
Newcastle, pressing high, did not let the visitors settle and David de Gea was soon called upon to make a brilliant save to keep out Isak's header and Joe Willock's follow-up in the 16th minute. Newcastle, somehow, were not in front and, just three minutes later, Longstaff headed wide from Allan Saint-Maximin's cross when the midfielder should have at least hit the target.
The pair combined once again in the 38th minute. This time, Saint-Maximin cut inside and pulled the ball back to his team-mate, but Longstaff's venomous shot from outside the box whistled just wide of the post.
Saint-Maximin was in the mood and, just a couple of minutes later, the Frenchman cut the ball back once more. However, this time, Willock blazed over with the goal gaping.
For all Newcastle's dominance - the black-and-whites had 11 shots in the first half alone - Manchester United were obviously still in this as long as it was goalless. The visitors sent a timely reminder of that before the break when Luke Shaw's corner was volleyed over by the unmarked Antony in space at the back post.
Yet it said it all that Manchester United did not have their first shot on target until the 56th minute. Even then, it was a tame effort from distance from Antony that Nick Pope easily dealt with. Newcastle then went up the other end and let fly from 25 yards, themselves, but Fabian Schar's effort swerved wide.
Yet Newcastle continued to plug away rather than get frustrated and the hosts finally found the breakthrough in the 65th minute. Isak slipped in Bruno Guimaraes down the right-hand side of the box and the Brazil international's hanging cross was headed back across goal by Saint-Maximin. There was Willock to nod home to take the roof off the stadium.
Far from going into protection mode, though, Newcastle went in search of a killer second and Howe threw on Joelinton and Anthony Gordon in the 68th minute. Joelinton soon rattled the bar when the midfielder's header was tipped onto the woodwork by de Gea.
Newcastle, clearly, were not done yet and it was another substitute, Callum Wilson, who doubled the hosts' advantage in the 88th minute when he got his head on the end of Trippier's free-kick to send Geordies wild. They won't forget this one in a hurry - but this is just the start.
READ NEXT
Eddie Howe stands up for Newcastle as Manchester United try to get into referee Attwell's head
Eddie Howe bites back after Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag's 'annoying' Newcastle dig
Newcastle thought they might have found the 'next Shay Given' before trial revealed the truth
Newcastle hires can prevent £12m nightmare after 'unbelievable talent' didn't have 'enough time'
