Joe Willock and Callum Wilson combined to propel Newcastle United past Manchester United into third place in the race for Champions League qualification.

Willock’s 65th-minute header, his third goal of the season, and a second from substitute Wilson two minutes from time handed Erik ten Hag’s side only their second defeat in 17 games in all competitions, and provided some retribution for February’s Carabao Cup final heartbreak at Wembley.

The Magpies earned a deserved 2-0 victory, as they created the better chances and could have gone ahead through Alexander Isak, Sean Longstaff, and Willock before breaking the deadlock in front of 52,268 fans.

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They are now level on 50 points with United, one more than they had in the entire previous season, but have a significantly better goal difference with 11 games remaining.

Marcus Rashford, who had been ruled out of England’s squad due to injury, was named to Ten Hag’s starting lineup, while Eddie Howe stuck with the lineup that started the Magpies’ 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest last time out.

On his return from a two-match ban, in-form midfielder Joelinton was relegated to the bench.

Both teams made early inroads in an aggressive start to the game, with Rashford and Antony looking dangerous in wide positions for the visitors as Isak stretched their defense.

Longstaff miskicked in front of goal after Isak headed down Kieran Trippier’s sixth-minute cross at the end of a flowing counterattack seconds after Sven Botman dived in to block Marcel Sabitzer’s burst into the Newcastle penalty area.

With time running out for defenders, both teams used high presses when out of possession, and as Allan Saint-Maximin found his feet, it was the home team who began to apply sustained pressure.

David De Gea had to save Isak’s header from Jacob Murphy’s 16th-minute cross, and he was grateful to be able to field Saint-curling Maximin’s effort quickly.

Murphy blasted a 25th-minute shot over from Bruno Guimaraes’ lay-off, and United needed the calming influence of the vastly experienced Raphael Varane to guide them through a testing period.

Longstaff blasted just wide from distance after Saint-Maximin rolled the ball square for him with seven minutes remaining in the first half, and the Frenchman set up Willock two minutes later, but he cleared the crossbar from much closer range.

As the first half came to a close, Antony was unable to find the back of the net with a first-time effort from Luke Shaw’s corner.

As the second half progressed, Saint-Maximin continued to torment Diogo Dalot without finding the killer final ball, and while Nick Pope had to collect a speculative attempt from Antony, defender Fabian Schar went close from distance with the Magpies pressing once more.

Ten Hag made his move with 28 minutes remaining, sending on Jadon Sancho and Anthony Martial, who was making his first appearance since February 1, for Antony and Wout Weghorst, but his side fell behind three minutes later.

Guimaraes took advantage of Isak’s brilliant pass and lofted the ball to the far post, where Saint-Maximin headed it back for Willock to score from close range.

De Gea made a fantastic reaction save to turn substitute Joelinton’s header onto the crossbar before Schar’s stooping effort came back off the post to keep the visitors in the game, but he was beaten again at the death when Wilson nodded home from Trippier’s corner.