Manchester United again illustrated their ambiguous character by rebounding from Sunday’s dismal defeat at Watford with this smooth-geared, canter of a victory.

They even gave Newcastle the advantage of a goal start during a dire few first‑half minutes before upping quality and control to pull away and display a ruthlessness they can sometimes lack.

It meant only a second league win when enjoying more possession than opponents in the 18 matches since Ole Gunnar Solskjær was made permanent manager in March.

Solskjær said: “You saw the intent straight away and the attitude was to win the ball and go forward. I was never worried about reaction [after Watford]. It’s always been one loss – we lost one in August, in September, November, December – not two in a row in the league.”

The one sour note was Scott McTominay failing to emerge for the second half owing to injury. Solskjær added. “He’s done his ligament in the knee probably – we’ll find out [Friday] how bad. I’m not sure if he’s going to be ready for Saturday [at Burnley] but we’ve seen him heal quickly before.”

Solskjær entered the match talking of how the defeat at Watford was down to his team’s callowness. That was not in evidence this time, though after a Marcus Rashford free-kick that was deflected led to three successive corners, then came United’s blip.

The last of the three was won back by Newcastle and suddenly Dwight Gayle and Jetro Willems were involved in a breakaway that Aaron Wan-Bissaka was relieved to halt just outside his area.

There was similar emotion when Mason Greenwood lost the ball inside the Newcastle half and again they charged through. This move ended with Joelinton feeding Gayle and he should have scored from close range.

There was no escape the third time as Matty Longstaff repeated his feat of two months ago, when scoring in the reverse fixture. Yet again the home side were slipshod: Fred was dispossessed and black‑and‑white shirts flooded forward. Gayle fed Longstaff and he chipped sweetly into Joelinton who returned the ball – under extreme pressure – for his teammate to slide home.

Mason Greenwood fires home Manchester United’s second goal in the 4-1 win over Newcastle at Old Trafford. Photograph: Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images

United woke up quickly as they had to, though Newcastle’s Martin Dubravka will not wish to see replays of how Anthony Martial’s equaliser squeezed in at his near post. This came after Rashford and Luke Shaw combined along the left before the latter found Andreas Pereira. His layoff was smart and allowed Martial to shoot.

Solskjær has spoken recently of the difficulty of leaving out Mason Greenwood and the young forward was about to remind us why. When Fabian Schär passed loosely the 18-year-old pounced on the ball, advanced, then fired a shot that deflected off Federico Fernández and went in off the bar.

United threatened further with a Pereira shot and a Greenwood cross before striking again. This time Wan-Bissaka stood the ball up and Rashford hung high, outmuscling Schär to power in a magnificent header. VAR checked for a McTominay hand on Matty Longstaff but the goal – correctly – stood.

For the second half Paul Pogba – who asked his teammates to wear “We are one”’ and “No to racism” wrist bands during (and solely for) the warm-up – was sent on in place of McTominay. His opening action was a crafty dummy that allowed the ball to roll to Martial in the area. Next, a 20-yard shot that just missed the outside of Dubravka’s right post solidified the sense Pogba could help wrap up the result quickly, and moments later United had a fourth goal for only the second time in the league this term.

Again this was self-inflicted by Newcastle: Sean Longstaff swivelled near halfway and hit the ball back but only into Martial’s path. He sprinted in and despite a heavy touch still dinked the ball over the advancing Dubravka. United were now rampant. Pogba’s balletic feet created space but his left-foot shot was too close to the Newcastle goalkeeper. Next, he threaded the ball to Martial and his effort hit the left-hand post.

Next up is Burnley and who knows which of their two incarnations – poor or convincing – will turn up. Steve Bruce, the Newcastle manager and a former Manchester United captain, said: “Results-wise this place is bloody awful for me [as a No 1].”