Feb 11, 2018 at 2.15pm UK at ​St James' Park
Attendance: 52,309
NewcastleNewcastle United
1-0
Man UtdManchester United
Ritchie (65')
FT(HT: 0-0)

Smalling (64'), Valencia (88')

Rafael Benitez hails "amazing effort" to beat Manchester United

Benitez hails
© SilverHub
Rafael Benitez praises his Newcastle United players for the effort and commitment shown to beat Manchester United 1-0 at St James' Park.

Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez has heaped praise on his players for producing an "amazing effort" to overcome Manchester United 1-0 in Sunday's Premier League clash.

The Magpies stunned their second-placed opponents at St James' Park through Matt Ritchie's goal 65 minutes, giving them a first home league victory since October.

Man United wasted a number of opportunities to rescue something from the game, while January recruit Martin Dubravka impressed on his debut by keeping out Jesse Lingard, Anthony Martial, Ashley Young and Michael Carrick.

Benitez was pleased with the performance of each of his players, and in particular goalkeeper Dubravka.

"He can buy the lottery and win today. He was composed and that gave confidence to the team," he told Sky Sports News. "All the players worked hard, so it is not fair to say just the goalkeeper played well.

"We worked as hard as other games, but against a team like Manchester United every ball is important, they can punish you, so you work like them. Amazing effort.

"They are dangerous, but the teamwork we showed to fight for every ball was amazing. I am pleased for the players and the fans. Because we won here at home.

"We had games in past when conceded late. We got lucky with some shots, but we showed the character, the commitment and the desire today."

Newcastle move up to 13th in the table with the victory and just three points off the top half.

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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Manchester CityMan City27233179205972
2Manchester UnitedMan Utd27175551193256
3Liverpool27159361313054
4Chelsea27165649232653
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7Burnley279992124-336
8Leicester CityLeicester2798103940-135
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13Newcastle UnitedNewcastle2777132536-1128
14Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton27610112236-1428
15Crystal Palace2769122542-1727
16Swansea CitySwansea2776142037-1727
17Huddersfield TownHuddersfield2776142347-2427
18Southampton27511112840-1226
19Stoke CityStoke2767142753-2625
20West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom27311132140-1920
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