A brace from Tahith Chong and goals from Largie Ramazani and James Garner gave the Red Devils a 4-0 win - their third victory from three games this term - at St. James' Park as they continue to set the pace at the top of the table.

Chong and Garner have both played first team football for Manchester United while Neil Redfearn was without regular captain Owen Bailey and Republic of Ireland youth international Oisín McEntee through suspension, and new signing Ludwig Francillette picked up a minor injury ahead of the game which prevented him from making his Magpies bow.

So, with Kell Watts on loan at Stevenage, 17-year-old Jude Swailes made his debut at this level and the son of former Rotherham and Bury player Chris could be proud of his performance despite the result.

He made an excellent block from Chong in the fifth minute then, after Garner had fired over for the Red Devils, the teenager made another last-ditch intervention to deny Chong.

Jake Turner made a comfortable save from a Garner free kick and Chong shot wide but the Magpies - who lost 5-0 in this fixture last season - looked comfortable for the opening half of the first period and could have taken the lead in the 19th minute when Víctor Fernández fired over after a great low cross from Jamie Sterry.

Dylan Levitt and Ramazani had efforts off target before, in the 38th minute, another brilliant cross from Sterry was met by Luke Charman, but the stand-in skipper's acrobatic effort was saved by Matej Kovar.

And within seconds, the away side made the breakthrough as Chong drilled home with a powerful low finish. Then, three minutes later, it was 2-0 as Ramazani fired past Turner from a near identical position.

Andy Carroll, Matt Ritchie and Sean and Matty Longstaff were among the crowd of 904, but Manchester United continued to dominate in the second half.

A great save from Turner in the 53rd minute prevented Garner from adding a third, then Brandon Williams headed wide shortly before sending another effort off target soon afterwards.

The Magpies had another good opportunity when Fernández cut the ball back for Charman, but his shot was well blocked by Teden Mengi, and the Red Devils made it 3-0 just before the hour mark when Chong let fly with an accurate left-footed drive from just inside the area.

Charman and Fernández combined again, but the former fired wildly over the bar, before Ramazani shot into the side-netting for the away side.

But they got their fourth of the night through Garner, whose 25-yard strike appeared to take a slight deflection on its way past Turner.

Newcastle United Under-23s: Jake Turner, Jamie Sterry, Oliver Walters, Jude Swailes, Lewis Cass, Mo Sangare (Rosaire Longelo 62), Kyle Scott, Jack Young, Luke Charman, Víctor Fernández, Yannick Touré (Joe White 76)

Subs not used: Dan Langley, Elliott Anderson, Tom Midgley