Maybe, just maybe, Steve Bruce and Newcastle United might not be heading for a painful, and very public, divorce after all.

Perhaps the home manager’s bravery in offering 19-year-old Matty Longstaff his Premier League debut alongside his older brother Sean in central midfield will one day come to be regarded as a watershed moment on both sides of the Pennines.

Whatever the future holds for Bruce and his increasingly beleaguered Manchester United counterpart, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, the Longstaff family will never forget the afternoon tears tumbled down Matty’s cheeks after he registered an imperiously unerring 25-yard winning goal which might as well have been an arrow through the Norwegian’s heart. In simultaneously relieving the considerable stress building around Newcastle’s manager and increasing the pressure mounting on Solskjær, Longstaff minor lifted his team out of the relegation zone and left the visitors hovering only two points above the bottom three.

Manchester United’s manager watched in dismay as his side – without an away win since March – exhibited an almost painful lack of invention, improvisation and incision in the course of another horribly ponderous, at times almost slow motion performance, in the north-east rain.

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Last Sunday night Newcastle had flown back to Tyneside in silence after a 5-0 thrashing at Leicester but a week on it was Manchester United’s turn to endure what must have been an excruciatingly uncomfortable plane ride home.

At a time when his tenure is being compared unfavourably with that of José Mourinho’s it is hard to envisage Solskjær’s Old Trafford reign extending beyond the short term.

Not that Bruce had much sympathy as he celebrated his first managerial victory against the club where he once proved a bedrock of Sir Alex Ferguson’s defence. Presiding over his 400th Premier League game as a manager he was not too proud to deploy a gameplan bearing a few of Rafael Benítez’s fingerprints.

Under Benítez last season Newcastle thrived in an immaculately drilled 3-4-3 formation and, with Bruce’s attempts to modify that configuration having produced a series of disappointing results, culminating with that Leicester thrashing, he reverted, reluctantly, to the Spaniard’s blueprint.

Newcastle immediately looked radically improved with the excellent Allan Saint-Maximin’s left-sided advances repeatedly ruffling their guests and Matty Longstaff, looking very much at home.

Only the woodwork came between the latter and a first-half goal after he collected Jetro Willems’ short pass, took a steadying touch with his left foot and then unleashed a sublime right footed 20-yard half volley which ricocheted back off the crossbar.

Not to be upstaged by his younger brother, Sean Longstaff – apparently targeted by Manchester United last summer – whipped in a corner for Fabian Schär to head narrowly off target.

Manchester United had still to register a shot on target but that finally changed in the 42nd minute when Andreas Pereira directed a long-range effort straight at Martin Dubravka in the Newcastle goal. With Solskjær’s players retaining quite a bit of possession yet doing precious little with it, Newcastle’s counterattacking tactics afforded them a much more menacing look. Even so, Bruce’s defence very nearly paid the price for losing concentration at a set piece.

Maybe Manchester United’s recent incompetence at dead balls had lulled them into a false sense of security but the marking was inexcusably slapdash as Harry Maguire all too easily lost Schär before connecting with Ashley Young’s excellent corner. Positioned around four yards out Maguire seemed certain to score but instead somehow headed wide.

If that represented a reprieve for Bruce, Solskjær seemed to be ageing by the minute as Saint-Maximin enjoyed the freedom of St James’ and looked mighty relieved as Miguel Almirón – still goalless in a Newcastle shirt – seamlessly controlled a dropping ball and appeared odds on to test David de Gea only to hesitate at the vital moment and permit the visiting defence to regroup.

Bruce cursed beneath his breath but Marcus Rashford made a much more minimal impact than the Paraguayan, barely touching the ball in a first half when Manchester United’s £250,000-a-week striker invariably found himself isolated in attack.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A disconsolate Ole Gunnar Solskjær waves to Manchester United’s travelling fans after their 1-0 defeat at Newcastle. Photograph: Jan Kruger/Getty Images

There is no danger of Andy Carroll walking alone on Tyneside and, sure enough, the returning local hero was cheered to the rafters as he replaced Joelinton early in the second period. By now Rashford had been relocated to his left-wing comfort zone but Carroll had no qualms about assuming the classic No 9 role from where he revelled in discomfiting Maguire and company.

Significantly Bruce’s self-styled “divine ponytail” offered important, opponent disrupting, nuisance value at a pivotal juncture in which the power balance seemed to finally be tilting towards an almost imperceptibly improved Manchester United.

No matter that the closest Carroll came to actually scoring featured a header which whizzed wide his distracting presence served to galvanise teammates and, shortly afterwards, the capricious breeze tugging at the corner flags proved an ill wind for Solskjær

Longstaff’s goal was coming and it proved a thing of beauty both individually and collectively with Saint Maximin and Willems deploying speed, skill and sheer cunning to take out an assortment of visiting markers before Willems cut-back for the debutant to shoot crisply and cleanly beyond De Gea before promptly bursting into tears. The blend of unbridled joy and sheer relief etched across Bruce’s face confirmed that a week really can be a very long time in football while Manchester United fans felt like crying themselves.

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