Newcastle suffer agonising defeat in front of Mike Ashley after stunning first half at Old Trafford

Substitute Alexis Sanchez scored a 90th minute winner for Jose Mourinho's side.

Newcastle, again watched by owner Mike Ashley, had raced into a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Kenedy and Yoshinori Muto – and they held on to that lead until the 70th minute.

Strikes from Juan Mata and Anthony Martial set up a tense finish, and Sanchez claimed all three points for the home team with a late strike which could keep Mourinho in a job.

The result has left winless Newcastle 19th in the Premier League table ahead of the two-week international break.

Ashley was at the game with managing director Lee Charnley and associates Justin Barnes and Keith Bishop.

Rafa Benitez had been cautious away to Manchester City last month.

However, Newcastle's manager had a very different approach to this game given the home team's frailties. Benitez handed Muto his first Premier League start and recalled the fit-again Federico Fernandez.

They took the game to their hosts from the first whistle, and a good pass from Ayoze Perez set away Kenedy in the seventh minute. Ashley Young allowed Kenedy to cut inside on to his favoured left foot, and the winger tucked the ball into the far corner of the net.

Three minutes later Jonjo Shelvey found Muto in the box. The forward turned and shot past David De Gea to stun Old Trafford, where Man United had never conceded two goals in the opening two minutes of a Premier League game.

Mourinho hauled off Eric Bailly in the 19th minute – he sent on Mata – as Newcastle's 3,000 travelling fans roared on their team.

Marcus Rashford should have done better with a first-half header, while De Gea denied Muto at the other end of the pitch.

Referee Anthony Taylor also waved away penalty appeals at both ends of the pitch before the interval. Young diverted a Shelvey free-kick with his arm, while Muto appeared to handle a corner shortly before the break.

Newcastle deservedly led at the interval, and there were boos at the break from the home support. Mourinho replaced Scott McTominay – who had struggled in defence – with Marouane Fellaini for the second half.

And it turned out to be a game of two halves.

Newcastle saw much less of the ball after the interval, though Kenedy, later forced off after Paul Pogba clipped him, shot over with one chance.

Mata got Man United back into the game with 20 minutes left on the clock. The Spaniard beat Dubravka with a free-kick conceded by Mohamed Diame on the edge of the box.

Dubravka superbly denied Fellaini and Chris Smalling as Mourinho's side pressed for an equaliser, but he couldn't stop a fine shot from Martial, who equalised in the 76th minute after exchanging passes with Pogba.

And Sanchez netted in the last minute of normal time to lift the roof at Old Trafford.

NEWCASTLE UNITED: Dubravka; Yedlin, Lascelles, Fernandez, Manquillo; Diame, Shelvey; Ritchie, Perez (Joselu, 88), Kenedy (Murphy, 67); Muto (Atsu, 78). Subs not used: Darlow, Clark, Schar, Hayden.

MANCHESTER UNITED: De Gea, Young, Smalling, Bailly (Mata, 19), Shaw, McTominay (Fellaini, 46), Matic, Pogba, Rashford (Sanchez, 66), Lukaku, Martial. Subs not used: Romero, Lindelof, Pereira, Fred.

Goals: Kenedy 7, Muto 10, Mata 70, Martial 76, Sanchez 90

Bookings: Shaw 45, Ritchie 58, Pogba 63, Diame 69

Referee: Anthony Taylor (Wythenshawe)

Attendance: 74,519