Newcastle United were on the wrong end of a hammering on Saturday night as they went down 4-1 to a Manchester United who came into the game on a thumping of their own, 6-1 against Tottenham Hotspur two weeks earlier.
Despite taking an early lead through a Luke Shaw own goal, the Magpies never found any rhythm and barring a great save from David De Gea to deny Callum Wilson in the second half, Steve Bruce's side never looked like troubling the Red Devils' defence.
The Newcastle manager tried to find reasons behind his sides' debacle following the Premier League clash.
"We were naive"
To be fair to Newcastle, they were level at 1-1 until the 86th minute of the game when Bruno Fernandes scored what seemed to be all that was needed to separate the two sides.
However as Newcastle suddenly tried to push for an even later equaliser they began to leave gaps which the pace of the Manchester United side exposed.
This led to the scoreline becoming ugly in the closing stages of the match, and is the main reason behind how they allowed their opponents to come away with what looked an easy three points.
"The big turning point is De Gea's save"
De Gea's excellent reaction save midway through the second period was certainly a key moment in the game as if Wilson had been able to bury his chance, the end to the game could have been very different with Manchester United chasing the game.
The Spanish goalkeeper has had his critics over the last year, and rightly so with him making a number of errors which have cost his side.
But in this game, De Gea was arguably instrumental in how the match panned out with there being less pressure on his team to get back into the game having been behind.
"It's harsh on our goalkeeper"
Karl Darlow was once again played a crucial role in goal to help his Newcastle side try to push on.
Darlow, featuring in place of the injured Martin Dubravka, has arguably been Newcastle's standout performer this season and has actually made the most saves in the top-flight.
He was excellent in the Magpies' most recent match, also saving a controversial penalty from Fernandes. However when facing 27 shots in one game you're always likely to concede, it was just a shame for him personally that he had to let three late strikes in.
"It was a struggle"
Bruce believed that the quality of players Manchester United have at their disposal was one of the main reasons behind Newcastle's struggles on Saturday evening.
The former Manchester United player believes that the movement of the opposition made life difficult for his side and that the difference in quality eventually shone through.
However the Toon gaffer did also feel that his players stayed in the game for large parts, but it did feel that a Manchester United win was on the cards as gaps started to appear as the game neared its end.
"We hope to have two or three back"
As seems the norm for Newcastle these days, injuries have caused selection issues for the manager in the early weeks of the season, and with Darlow and Isaac Hayden struggling with knocks in the second half against Manchester United, more concerns are starting to come around.
Both Matty and Sean Longstaff have missed out in the first few weeks of the campaign, but both will feature for the under-23s on Monday.
Going into the match at Molineux against Wolverhampton Wanderers next weekend, Bruce will be hoping to welcome the duo back, as well as the likes of Paul Dummett who has been out of action for a number of months.