Newcastle's Peter Lovenkrands became the first player to score past United keeper Edwin van der Sar in the league for more than 21 hours with a ninth-minute tap-in but Wayne Rooney levelled and Dimitar Berbatov sealed the points after the break.
United's 11th consecutive league victory took them to 65 points from 27 games. Chelsea and Liverpool, who have both played a game more, are both back on 58 with time running out.
Fourth-placed Aston Villa's Champions League ambitions were dealt a blow with a 2-0 loss at Manchester City while Stoke City climbed out of the bottom three with a 2-0 home victory over Bolton Wanderers.
Tottenham Hotspur shook off the disappointment of losing to Manchester United in Sunday's League Cup final with a 4-0 hammering of Middlesbrough to ease their relegation worries.
"We got off to a terrible start and Newcastle were on top," United manager Alex Ferguson, who was clearly not happy with his side's early efforts, told Sky Sports.
"Edwin said himself he made a mess of it. It was a hairy spell for us. It was going to happen sometime," he added, referring to Van der Sar's rare slip.
Normal service was resumed after 20 minutes when Rooney, who missed United's League Cup final success through illness, beat Steve Harper with a shot on the turn.
Taylor was badly at fault for United's winner after 56 minutes when he attempted to chest the ball back to his keeper but instead gave the ball to Park Ji-sung who in turn fed Berbatov to score with ease.
"We required a lot of grit at times," said Ferguson. "Whenever you come back from 1-0 down to win you must be pleased."
