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Ashley Young hails Manchester United's fighting spirit

Juan Mata celebrates with Ashley Young and Wayne Rooney
Image: Ashley Young: United winger celebrates with Juan Mata and Wayne Rooney

Ashley Young has praised Manchester United’s character after they came from behind to defeat Manchester City 4-2 at Old Trafford.

City dominated the game in the early stages and went ahead through Sergio Aguero’s strike, but the home side hit back strongly with goals from Young, Marouane Fellaini, Juan Mata and Chris Smalling.

The victory extended United’s winning streak to six in the Premier League and Young hailed their fighting spirit.

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Manchester United's Ashley Young and Juan Mata both praised the character of the side

He told Sky Sports: “It was a magnificent win. We knew it would be a tough game.

“You see the way we started, it was disappointing to go a goal behind.

“We showed that character and team spirit to get back in the game. It looked like no other team was going to win it after that.”

Young added his impressive form this season has been down to wanting to repay the faith shown in him by boss Louis van Gaal.

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The former Aston Villa midfielder was linked with a move away from the club but has established himself as a first-team regular on the left wing.

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He added: “I’ve just listened to what the manager said. He wanted to play me and I wanted to go out and repay him.

“Everybody is in the team to do a job and everybody was magnificent."

Meanwhile, Young’s team-mate Phil Jones is confident that in-form United can beat Chelsea on Saturday.

He said: “They are a top team as well. We’ll go in there in great confidence and great belief. If we play like we did and in the last few weeks there's no reason why we can't go and get three points there.

"There's still a long way to go so we’ll keep our feet firmly on the ground. We are heading in the right direction.”

United next face Premier League leaders Chelsea on Sky Sports' Saturday Night Football - live on Sky Sports 1 at 5.30pm on April 18.

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