Manchester United after long last got out of their sixth position in the league table, as they defeated Middlesbrough with a 3-1 victory, thanks to goals from Marouane Fellaini, Jesse Lingard and Antonio Valencia.

United overcame a dull start to the game in the first half to take the lead on the half-hour mark when Ashley Young's cross found the head of Fellaini at the back-post, as the Belgian headed in the opener of the game, a much deserved goal for the visiting Red Devils.

The second-half saw United remain more solid defensively for large parts of that period, Lingard scored the second goal of the game with a brilliant long range effort. Boro tried to put some late pressure on the United defence as Steve Agnew brought their big man Rudi Gestede off the bench to make an impact on the game, as well as the young and exciting Adama Traoré who caused a few problems for United, late on in the game.

Gestede got one goal back for the home side as they looked to pull off an unlikely comeback, however Antonio Valencia put the game to bed after Víctor Valdés's slip left him with an empty net to score his first United goal in over three years.

The three points won takes United to fifth going into the international break, four points behind fourth placed Liverpool who have played two games more than the Red Devils.

Let's take a look at the lessons United will have learned from the victory-

Fellaini can play a key role in April

Fellaini was deployed alongside Michael Carrick in central midfield for United and for much of the game, the Belgian was playing an advanced role, looking to get into the Boro box whenever he could.

Whenever United have Zlatan Ibrahimović playing, there is always an option in the box to cross the ball to, and against Boro, the attack was lacking a spearhead. That said, Rashford put in a terrific shift in attack, getting the better of the Boro defence time and again with his pace, only to be denied by Valdés every time he got a shot away.

Fellaini kept his football simple and did all the things he was good at. He used his physicality well in midfield and his goal was a perfect example of how he uses his height and strength to his advantage. He picked Fábio to stick close to, when Young put the cross in, it was a simple header for the Belgian to open the scoring.

Whille Fellaini isn't a regular starter in Mourinho's plans, he showed in the match that he is able to do the job when called upon and in the congested month of April that is coming up for United, the Belgian could play a key role in many matches.

Lingard puts in encouraging display

Lingard started a league game for United after a long time and showed his quality when called upon in the league, he has been effective in cup competitions for the Red Devils.

Lingard started in an advanced role alongside Juan Mata and Rashford, as part of a three man attacking setup from Mourinho.

Lingard's work rate and his link-up play with Rashford was a feature of the game through and through. He dropped deep whenever the team needed him to and broke forward with pace skipping past the Boro defence at times with magical ease.

It was his passes down the left that let Rashford in behind the Boro defence, exploiting the spaces behind Bernardo and the rest of the home side's defence.

Lingard's goal to make it 2-0 was a classic example of the counter-attacking prowess that United have. He picked up the ball deep in his own half and ran the entire length of the field with no one to stop him in the Boro midfield, he had Mata and Rashford as possible options ahead of him, but he chose to shoot and scored a brilliant long range effort to make it 2-0 to United.

If Lingard can keep this reaching this level of quality consistently over the rest of the season, he can certainly help United to many a positive results in the month of April.

Smalling still not back to his best

In a match where Smalling was expected to shine alongside Eric Bailly and Phil Jones, the United No.12 still looked like he wasn't up to his best.

Most of the defensive work was carried out efficiently by Jones and Bailly, who were mobile throughout the game, making interceptions, blocking crosses and were also quite active in the hold-up play.

One of the primary criticism of Smalling this season has been his inability to put in a commanding performance, and his lack of command showed against Boro late on in the game.

It was his inability to clear the ball that led to Gestede scoring for the home side, a moment of concern for Mourinho after he brought of Marcos Rojo to cope with the direct nature of Agnew's sides' attacks.

Going into the international break, United and Mourinho will be happy to finally get out of the sixth spot and take another step closer towards reaching the top four. Ahead of a very busy month in April. It'll be very interesting to see how the Red Devils cope with the challenges ahead