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• Fernandes looking for strong finish to Man Utd's season

  Bruno Fernandes says Manchester United must "finish the season in the best way" following their 3-2 win over Newcastle United.

  The United youngsters played starring roles, with Kobbie Mainoo, Amad Diallo and Rasmus Hojlund getting all three goals to close the gap to Newcastle in the table.

  Anthony Gordon and Lewis Hall both netted for the Magpies, with the latter setting up a nervy finish with his stoppage-time effort, but their lack of clinical edge meant United earned all three points.

  Erik ten Hag’s side avoided a third consecutive defeat, and what would have been a record-breaking 10th home loss of the season, and Fernandes insists they must find a way to finish positively. 

  Speaking to Sky Sports, the United captain said: "Obviously the job isn’t finished yet. We still have one game in the Premier League, then the biggest game of the season, the FA Cup final.

  "It has been a tough season. The table shows that, and we are all aware of that. The fans have been amazing and behind us all season. We all appreciate what they have been doing for us.

  "We want to do better and do differently. They [fans] have been amazing for us, and we had to do something. We have been trying, but results don’t show that. We have been working hard and everyone has been giving their best. It is not enough, and we have to do more.

  "We still have two games to go, and we have to finish in the best way.

  "It doesn’t exist, a captain's performance, it is a team performance. I am no different from anyone just because I have the armband. I always try my best, and we always do the best we can for the club – nobody hides that we play for a big club, and we have to lift our standards every game."

  Despite returning to winning ways, United have now conceded 58 Premier League goals this season, their most across a single campaign in the competition.

  Ten Hag was keen to turn the focus away from their struggling defence and onto the attacking players instead.

  "Fantastic. Great goals. But it was a team effort how we made the goals. But I'm always happy at young players who are progressing very good and scored some brilliant goals," he told BBC Sport.

  "Newcastle have a lot of physical power, and you have to match that, but you also have to play football. We had found the really good balance in this.

  "It's always nice to win any game. It's important to win the last game at Old Trafford this season. The fans deserve this because they've had difficult times and always stayed with us.

  "We are here together. We wanted to pay the fans back."

   

• Manchester United 3-2 Newcastle United: Hojlund gets Red Devils back to winning ways

  Manchester United kept their European hopes alive with a 3-2 victory over Newcastle United in their final home game of the season on Wednesday.

  Amad Diallo scored his first Premier League goal to put the hosts 2-1 up in the second half, before Rasmus Hojlund came off the bench to wrap up the points.

  Kobbie Mainoo had earlier netted the opener just after the half-hour mark, though the Red Devils were pegged back early in the second half through Anthony Gordon.

  Lewis Hall took advantage of some slack defending in stoppage time to set up a nervy finish, but the hosts held strong to see out the win.

  Erik ten Hag's side remain in eighth but are now level on points with Newcastle, who have a superior goal difference. Chelsea's win at Brighton means the Magpies drop to seventh.

  Newcastle soon came under pressure as Martin Dubravka made a routine save to deny Scott McTominay before pushing away Diallo’s curler.

  Mainoo then found the opening, latching onto Diallo’s throughball before picking out the bottom-left corner with his composed finish.

  The Magpies responded well, and Dan Burn’s towering header was inches away from pulling them level, but Casemiro brilliantly cleared on the line.

  Newcastle were rewarded for a bright start to the second half as Gordon met Jacob Murphy’s cross to fire an equaliser past Andre Onana in the 49th minute.

  Less than 10 minutes later, though, Eddie Howe’s side were behind once more – Diallo latched onto a poor clearance to rifle a powerful strike past Dubravka from the edge of the box.

  The hosts were indebted to Onana as he then made two big saves, smothering Sean Longstaff one-on-one and stretching to tip Joelinton’s shot over the bar.

  Gordon almost levelled for a second time when his fizzed shot threatened to sneak in at the far post, but Miguel Almiron could not get the vital touch to take it over the line.

  Hojlund then came off the bench and with his first touch of the ball, he held off Burn to slot a low shot through Hall's legs and into the bottom-left corner.

  In the 92nd minute, Hall gave Newcastle late hope after latching onto a loose clearance and firing in a brilliant strike from distance, but they were unable to find a second.

  The kids are alright

  Mainoo has proven a bright spark in United's underwhelming season, and scored his third goal of the campaign here - he has given the Red Devils the lead each time he has found the back of the net.

  Teenagers have now scored 10 Premier League goals for United this season (Alejandro Garnacho has seven to Mainoo's three), their third-highest tally in a single campaign after 2004-05 (15) and 2019-20 (11).

  All three of United’s goalscorers were aged 21 or younger, with Hojlund scoring just 106 seconds after coming off the bench.

  Away blues return for Magpies

  Newcastle were looking for their third win over United in all competitions this season, but despite showing a goal threat, they struggled to convert their chances.

  Their away form has improved in recent weeks, with the Magpies winning four of their last seven on the road compared to just one victory from their first 10, but they could not run out winners again here.

  Howe is also still looking for his first league win in Manchester, failing to win any of his last 15 away games against either Manchester City or United (three draws, 12 defeats).

• Ten Hag confident over Fernandes stay despite reported Bayern interest in Man Utd star

  Bruno Fernandes is reportedly drawing interest from Bayern Munich and Saudi Arabian clubs but Erik ten Hag remains confident the midfielder will stay at Manchester United.

  The Portugal international, who joined the Red Devils from Sporting in January 2020, is said to be attracting attention from numerous clubs in the Saudi Pro League.

  Bundesliga giants Bayern are also reportedly weighing up their options in attempting to sign Fernandes, though under-fire Ten Hag expects him to remain at Old Trafford.

  When pressed at Tuesday's press conference on Fernandes' future, Ten Hag responded: "It is the same question as last week. So I answered.

  "The same answer. Now in all the years he was, he was a tremendously important player for Manchester United and creating the most chances across the Premier League.

  "So many assists, so many goals. It's clear he's a very important player for us."

  Indeed, since his debut against Wolves on February 1, 2020, Fernandes leads United for chances created (644), goals (79) and assists (63) across all competitions.

  In the same period, the 29-year-old also leads the way among Premier League players overall in chances created, ahead of Kevin De Bruyne (519), Trent Alexander-Arnold (424) and Pascal Gross (388).

  Though Ten Hag is keen to keep Fernandes in Manchester, Raphael Varane has announced his intentions to leave the Red Devils at the end of the current season.

  Casemiro is also said to be of interest in Saudi Arabia, where clubs are reportedly targeting moves for the likes of Mohamed Salah, De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku.