Young Savours Ewood Win

Ashley Young hailed “a massive win at a crucial time in the season” after United beat Blackburn Rovers 2-0 to move five points clear of title rivals Manchester City.

The Reds midfielder came off the bench just moments before Antonio Valencia broke the deadlock with a fine individual strike at Ewood Park, before sealing three points with a superbly taken finish with just five minutes left.

“It was a massive win for us,” Young told Sky Sports. “We knew if we could win here then we would go five points clear at the top. It was a great result and a great performance.

“It’s a crucial time in the season - everybody in the team knows that. It’s a squad game, that’s what the manager has said and obviously there were a few changes tonight but everybody in the squad can do a job and we got it done tonight.

“It’s a massive lead for us and it was a massive game for us. We knew we could get the first goal at some point, whether it was a shot or a cross from Antonio, we were just delighted to see it go in the back of the net. It was a great feeling when the first goal went in.

“For us to come here and get three points was great, we knew it was going to be a tough game. The boys were resilient throughout the game and we were always going to create chances, thankfully we scored one.”

Although delighted by Monday night’s win, Young is keen to focus only on the next game – Sunday’s clash with struggling QPR at Old Trafford.

“Obviously we just take each game they come. We have got another tough game on Sunday and we look forward to that one. We are five points clear, but we’ve just got to concentrate on each game as they come.”