Newcastle vs. Manchester United: Score, Grades and Reaction from Premier League

Ashley Young's late strike handed Manchester United a narrow and hard-fought 1-0 victory against Newcastle United at St James' Park on Wednesday night to keep the Red Devils firmly in the race for the top four.

An entertaining clash saw chances and controversy from both sides along with the return of Jonas Gutierrez to Premier League action.     

But the deadlock was not broken until Magpies goalkeeper Tim Krul gifted Young an opportunity in the 89th minute, the Englishman firing home a vital goal.

The Manchester outfit shared the final score: 

The Red Devils had a genuine chance inside the first minute, Mehdi Abeid being dispossessed in the centre circle and Angel Di Maria ran through, but the Argentine decided against taking a shot and the chance came to nothing. 

The hosts were then denied a penalty in the 10th minute after a heavy Chris Smalling tackle on Emmanuel Riviere, the Englishman lucky to get away with what was a clumsy challenge, per BT Sport's Des Kelly:

Wayne Rooney carved out the best chance of the first half on 26 minutes, chipping Krul but firing wide after he was slipped through in the box by Young.

Six minutes from half-time came significant controversy as Jonny Evans and Papiss Cisse clashed, with an accusation of spitting from both players in the fallout, per UpTheStakes:

However, neither player was heavily penalised, and both sides had further chances to open the scoring ahead of half-time, Marouane Fellaini heading straight at Krul after Antonio Valencia's well-weighted cross.

Riviere then failed to effectively latch onto the end of Moussa Sissoko's well-weighted ball, David de Gea doing well to come out and smother the bundled effort.

The Frenchman had another, better chance just two minutes after the break, receiving the ball at the near-post after a head-on from a free-kick, but De Gea palmed away the effort.

Krul responded in kind at the other end as he made a double save—first from Fellaini, then from Young—to keep his side level in impressive style, per Paddy Power:

Gutierrez received the biggest ovation of the night, coming on as a substitute in the 64th minute for Ryan Taylor, his first appearance in a Newcastle shirt since his recovery from cancer.

An entertaining and action-packed match looked to be heading for a 0-0 draw, but Young finally broke the deadlock in the 89th minute.

Scott Heppell/Associated Press

Rooney worked well down the right but Krul looked to be under no pressure as he received the ball, only for his clearance to fall to Young, who slotted home with aplomb.

Cisse nearly responded immediately at the other end, but De Gea, once again, rescued his side with a fine save.

Louis van Gaal's side claimed a vital three points as they contend for a top-four spot, but it was far from pretty in Newcastle. 

Player Grades

Wayne Rooney: B+

Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

Following on from his double against Sunderland at the weekend, Rooney was again the main man up front for the Red Devils, along with Fellaini.

He spurned a couple of chances in the first half but was key in the goal as his endeavour no doubt pressurised Krul into his mistake.

Angel di Maria: C-

Again included in Van Gaal's starting line-up despite his half-time withdrawal against Sunderland, the Argentine was poor again at St James' Park.

Easily wrestled off the ball and misplacing passes regularly, Di Maria was replaced by Adnan Januzaj just before the hour.

Emmanuel Riviere: C+

Stu Forster/Getty Images

The Frenchman got himself into some fine positions but spurned two gilt-edged chances.

He failed to connect properly in the first half having been sent through by Sissoko and should definitely have scored early in the second half.    

De Gea made himself big and did well, but Riviere was unmarked in front of goal and should have put it beyond the Spanish keeper's reach.

Post-Match Reaction

To follow.