A much-changed Manchester United secured a fourth successive away league win as they comfortably beat Newcastle.

Juan Mata exquisitely curled a 20-yard free-kick into the top corner to give the away side the lead.

A low Javier Hernandez shot came back off the post before a composed Mata finish extended the Red Devils' lead.

A lacklustre Newcastle conceded again when Hernandez swept in a six-yard shot before Adnan Januzaj slotted home as the visitors climbed into sixth.

Manchester United boss David Moyes made eight changes from the side that drew 1-1 with Bayern Munich in midweek, with his focus clearly on the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final in Germany on Wednesday.

However, the Red Devils supporting cast - spurred on by influential midfielders Mata and Shinji Kagawa - put on an impressive display for the team with the best away record in the Premier League this season.

Victory moved them to within seven points of fourth place and gave them a lift ahead of their trip to Bayern, whose record 53-game unbeaten run in the Bundesliga ended with a 1-0 defeat at Augsburg on Saturday.

The Magpies might have thought their visitors' team selection would give them a chance to bounce back after a 4-0 drubbing by Southampton, but they produced a similarly dismal show to suffer a 10th top-flight defeat in 15 matches.

The home side went close when striker Papiss Cisse's powerful early header was tipped over the bar by Anders Lindegaard, but it was Mata who opened the scoring.

Dan Gosling fouled Darren Fletcher on the edge of the area, and Mata curled the free-kick over the wall and into the top corner.

The visitors were denied a second by the woodwork after Kagawa played Hernandez through on goal, with Rob Elliot's fingertips diverting the ball onto the foot of the post.

But any hope Newcastle had of making the most of that let-off received a blow early in the second half.

Poor defending by Fabricio Coloccini allowed Kagawa to again release Hernandez, who cut the ball across for Mata to coolly wrong-foot Elliot before slotting in from close range.

The Red Devils added a third just after the hour mark following another well-worked move as Januzaj found the influential Kagawa, who cut back for Hernandez to steer in from six yards.

That goal was the signal for some Magpies fans to leave, and the closest their side came to scoring was when Cisse had a shot saved at point-blank range by Lindegaard.

Newcastle's misery was complete when a classy Mata back-heel helped set up Januzaj for a late fourth.