Lingard & Fellaini Reflect On Key Win

Manchester United midfielders Marouane Fellaini and Jesse Lingard were happy to contribute to a key three points in Sunday's 3-1 win at Middlesbrough.

The pair netted alongside Antonio Valencia's first goal in three years to end a busy week on a high for the Reds, who are up to fifth place in the Premier League table.

Belgian anchorman Fellaini nodded United in front in the first half with a towering header from a terrific Ashley Young cross, before Lingard produced a stunning strike from outside the area for his sixth goal of the season. 

But United had to withstand a late flurry from Boro after Rudy Gestede pulled a goal back and Fellaini was keen to pay tribute to the way the defence withstood the pressure.

"It is always a pleasure to score a goal," he told BT Sport. "It was a great ball from Ash and I did my best to score. I came from far to bend my run to the back post and it was a good goal.

"But it was tough in the end. They played long balls and got physical but I felt we did well to deal with that. It helped that we had a lot of defenders on the pitch to deal with that and we are pleased with the way we withstood their attacks."

England man Lingard, who won the Man of the Match award with 71 per cent of fans' votes on Twitter, fired a rocket past former United goalkeeper Victor Valdes after driving from midfield.

He said: "I was looking for the pass but there weren’t any options on in that moment, so I thought I’d hit it and luckily it went in."

With Zlatan Ibrahimovic suspended and Wayne Rooney injured, Marcus Rashford led the line alone, as he did against Chelsea on Monday, and his role in the win drew praise from Lingard.

"I always play well with Marcus," Jesse said. "He’s put in a shift for the team today and made a nuisance of himself; again he has proved that he is a good player."

Despite a disappointing start to the week, with a defeat at Stamford Bridge in the Emirates FA Cup, the Reds have recorded back-to-back wins against Rostov in the Europa League and now over Boro, to head into the international break on a high.

"Obviously, it has been a good week," Fellaini said. "We have reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League and we have picked up three key points today in an important game. It was tough to lose to Chelsea but we had to do that with 10 men, so it wasn’t easy.

"We want to be in the Champions League, so we know wins like this can go towards that. We have a lot of games coming up – tough games against teams like Spurs, Arsenal and Man City, so we will keep fighting to win all of them."

Mourinho made seven changes on Sunday but Fellaini feels the fact the Reds were still able to pick up a good result is testament to the strength of the squad. 

He added: "We have a big squad with quality. We all have to prove to the manager that we want to earn our place in the team and today I think our players showed that."