Young's Goal Delight

Ashley Young has spoken of his delight at getting on the scoresheet in the Capital One Cup win at Stoke after over 18 months without a goal.

United’s Man of the Match opened the scoring at the Britannia Stadium with a blinding effort just after the hour-mark, and set David Moyes’ men on the way to a 2-0 victory which booked a spot in the semi-finals of the competition.

“As soon as I hit it, I felt like it was going in,” the winger told MUTV afterwards. “You could see from my celebration how much it meant to get on the scoresheet; it’s been a little while! I was delighted to get the goal, but getting through was more important.

"It was scrappy in parts but I think we were always on top and likely to score, and our quality shone through. The boys were magnificent - we showed great spirit and character and hopefully we take that into this weekend’s game [at home to West Ham].”

The Reds now face Sunderland in the last four of the competition with a first-leg trip to the Stadium of Light in the week beginning 6 January, before the return match at Old Trafford two weeks later.

“We’re delighted to have the second leg at home,” insisted Young. “We know it won’t be easy, cup games are always tough, but fingers crossed we can get through to the final."