" Ferguson hails ´fantastic´ Man Utd" ( BBC)
Sir Alex Ferguson praised his side´s return to winning ways after seeing them thrash Newcastle 6-2 at St James´ Park.
Manchester United responded to their midweek Champions League humiliation at the hands of Real Madrid by producing a Premiership masterclass.
Paul Scholes was the star of the show, scoring an impressive hat-trick, while Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Ryan Giggs and Ruud van Nistelrooy weighed in with the other goals.
Match report:
Newcastle 2-6 Man Utd
However, Ferguson´s joy at the result was tempered by injuries to Roy Keane, Giggs and John O´Shea ahead of the crucial league encounter against Arsenal at Highbury on Wednesday.
" It´s a great confidence boost - no question about that," said Ferguson.
" Seven or eight wasn´t beyond us but unfortunately it didn´t happen"
Paul Scholes
Manchester United midfielder
" We played very well and created some good openings. It was a matter of being patient and when we got back into the game we played some fantastic football."
The Scot believes United have emerged stronger from Tuesday´s 3-1 defeat in Madrid, when they were outplayed for long periods.
He added: " We learned from it. A lot of our players are young so it was good to get the experience from Madrid and come here knowing it was such an important game - and produce.
" We would have accepted this score before the game!
" We´re set up nicely now and have got to the position I hoped we would get to some months ago."
Man-of-the-match Scholes said: " We´re very pleased to have won the way we did.
" When we were a goal down we probably would have taken a point, but we scored four goals in the last 15 minutes of the first half.
" We knew Arsenal´s goal difference was five ahead before the game. Seven or eight wasn´t beyond us but unfortunately it didn´t happen."