The Red Devils responded to their 6-1 thrashing in the hands of Tottenham Hotspur before the international break with an emphatic win in Tyneside.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men went down by a goal inside the opening two minutes due to Luke Shaw’s own goal, but the under-fire Maguire, who has been enduring a torrid few weeks in his career, cancelled the hosts’ lead on the 23rd minute mark.
A dominant Manchester United display in the second half saw the visitors ran riot as goals from Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford and Aaron Wan-Bissaka condemned Steve Bruce’s men to their second defeat of the season.
Speaking to the media after the game, Maguire, who seemed to have redeemed himself from his recent wobbles, praised his team-mates but insists the result was not a reply to United‘s critics.
"I wouldn't say we have answered them [the critics]. It's funny, three games into the season and it seems like a big crisis. Won two lost two. There is a long way to go, we have to improve,” the former Leicester City man told Sky Sports.
"When you play for this club and get beat at home, we ask questions. We work hard in training, it is a great group and we knew we had to bounce back. I felt it would have been really harsh if we came away with just a point. A full deserved win.
"It was important. Every game in the Premier League we want to be on top. Some games we will not be at our best but we have to do the basics well and in the games we lost we didn't do the basics well.
"We knew we needed to get three points and we managed to do so. We've got a tough run coming up.
"We are still a young team but we won't use that as an excuse. It was disappointing to start like we had but big performance when we needed it."
