On Wednesday night at St. James' Park, Ashley Young struck a vital goal in Manchester United's push towards the top four after a horrendous goalkeeping error from Tim Krul. The victory keeps Manchester United in the top four while Newcastle remain in 11th. Read on to hear the reactions from the managers and players involved...

Manchester United manager Louis Van Gaal raved about his team's fighting spirit and never say die attitude, giving special praise to captain Wayne Rooney who helped to cause the lone goal. It was he who forced a bad backpass to Krul and he who closed down the keeper, forcing him into a pass right to the feet of Young.

Van Gaal said, "I have to say that Wayne, how he makes that goal, is unbelievable, because it was a lost ball. But his fighting spirit is unbelievable," van Gaal told MUTV. "I have a fantastic group. They have the spirit and, in spite of all the criticism, they want to win and always play good football. Today I think we played good football."

He went on to heap praise on United goalkeeper David De Gea, who was again superb and kept the Reds in the match at times. "David De Gea, this year, is unbelievable. In my career I have a lot of good goalkeepers, for example Edwin van der Sar was one of my goalkeepers and [Victor] Valdes also with Barcelona, but De Gea is having a great season. Newcastle is a difficult ground to win at so I am very pleased," he added. "They have won here against the top clubs so I am very happy."

Finally, the United boss spoke of his happiness at finally picking up a win at this ground, given that he had lost there with both Barcelona and AZ Alkmaar.

“I lost here twice as a coach of Barcelona and AZ Alkmaar. I lost 3-2 with Barcelona and 3-1 with AZ, so I knew it was a difficult ground. Ryan Giggs (assistant manager) said they would press us, and there would be a lot of pressure from the crowd. But we made the crowd quiet because we were dominating and I was very pleased with the performance. It was a very important result because it was a night when all of our rivals in our ‘rat race’ won.”

The reaction from Newcastle boss John Carver was different, particularly given that his side were not given a penalty on what looked a clear foul from Chris Smalling on Emmanuel Riviere. However, the Toon manager was sure to mention the emotional return of Jonas Gutierrez, who has fought off testicular cancer to return to the Magpies.

“It was a great moment, and maybe I should have started with him because all of a sudden we brought him on and the crowd came alive,” said Carver. “He’s worked extremely hard behind the scenes to make this happen. He’s worked tirelessly in the gym to get back on the pitch, and to come back from what he’s come back from is remarkable really. The reception showed how much the fans think of him because the roof nearly came off the stadium. He was emotional after the game, and it was an emotional moment.”

Carver went on to speak about his disappointment on letting a point slip away, and made his feelings about the contentious refereeing decision known.

“It’s very frustrating, and I’m so disappointed for the guys. For 89 minutes, I thought we were outstanding. We don’t have the same ability as Manchester United – they have world-class players – but we’ve matched them. It was a blatant penalty. Anthony Taylor is a human being, and he hasn’t given it. He only sees it once, and we see it time and time again. I saw it about five times at half-time, and it was definitely a penalty. He’s made a mistake, and I’m a bit frustrated about that.”

Lastly, Carver spoke about the alleged spitting incident between Manchester United defender Jonny Evans and Newcastle striker Papiss Cisse, saying: “I’m aware of it, but I haven’t seen the incident. I just saw a fracas on the halfway line between the two players. The referee spoke to them, and that’s all I’ve seen. As far as I’m concerned, I need to have a look at it. The players didn’t mention it because I was talking to them about the game.”

Meanwhile, Ashley Young, who was again impressive, spoke about just how important his goal could prove to be. “It was a hard-fought win. We knew we had to come here and get three points and we got our reward. We had chances in the first half but just couldn’t put them away. We knew we’d get another chance - luckily it fell to me and I scored.

“People are always going to question the biggest club in the world, but we just concentrate on ourselves. We don’t listen to anyone else, we just listen to the manager and the staff at the club. We heard the other results and know that the teams around us are winning. So it was a really crucial win. I thought it was great work by Wayne [Rooney] to pressure their defenders. When the ball fell to my feet I just had to steady myself and put it away. I had a chance before that, but thankfully we got the goal and all three points which is what we came here to do."

Manchester United will now look to prepare for their Monday night FA Cup Quarterfinal against Arsenal while Newcastle will have a weekend off before they travel to Everton in the Barclays Premier League.