Man United leaves it late to beat Newcastle 1-0 in EPL

NEWCASTLE — Ashley Young capitalised on a dreadful error by Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul and scored an 89th-minute goal to earn Manchester United a 1-0 win in the Premier League today (March 5, morning, Singapore time), tightening his team’s grip on fourth place.

Under pressure from Wayne Rooney, Krul mis-hit a hurried clearance along the ground and straight to Young, who steered in a finish inside the near post.

The goalkeeper played a starring role for the Netherlands in last year’s World Cup under coach Louis van Gaal, who is now in charge of United.

United stayed a point behind third-place Arsenal in the race for Champions League qualification. Arsenal and fifth-place Liverpool also won on Wednesday.

“I think we have dominated for 90 minutes, maybe our best match of the season, especially in an away match. We deserved the victory,’’ Van Gaal said. ``It was a narrow escape because our rivals have won also.”

The game was marred by an angry exchange between Newcastle striker Papiss Cisse and United defender Jonny Evans at the end of the first half, with television pictures appearing to show both players spat — although not necessarily at each other. Both managers said they didn’t see the incident.

It was another disappointing match for Argentina midfielder Angel Di Maria, who was substituted in the 58th minute _ four days after being taken off at halftime in United’s win over Sunderland. Another high-profile summer signing, Radamel Falcao, was on the bench and didn’t come on _ even though fellow striker Robin van Persie is still out injured.

Krul’s late error overshadowed an otherwise impressive display by the goalkeeper, who produced a stunning double save to deny Marouane Fellaini and Young in the 54th minute.

At the other end, United goalkeeper David de Gea twice saved shots by Emmanuel Riviere and Cisse scuffed a shot wide on a counter-attack with only De Gea to beat.

One of the biggest cheers of the night came in the 65th minute when Argentina midfielder Jonas Gutierrez came on as a substitute for his first appearance since October 2013 following his successful battle against testicular cancer.

“I will remember for the rest of my life the reception,” Gutierrez said. “The support I have had from clubs all around the world — they don’t matter about the shirt — it has helped me keep fighting.”

The 31-year-old Gutierrez was given the all-clear in November. AP