Source: SKY_Sports
Rooney relieved by victory
Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney admits he was relieved to come away from St James' Park with a win.
The 23-year-old equalised for the champions nine minutes after Newcastle striker Peter Lovenkrands had capitalised on an uncharacteristic mistake from Edwin van der Sar in the opening 10 minutes.
The hosts continued to press and could have gone 2-0 up had striker Obafemi Martins' shot not whistled inches past the post moments later.
The Magpies' performance would have had a neutral wondering how they currently find themselves in a relegation battle having matched United for the majority of the 90 minutes.
The win, courtesy of Dimitar Berbatov's tap-in on 56 minutes, sent the Red Devils seven points clear at the top with a game in hand but the encounter reminded Rooney that there are no easy games in the Premier League.
"It doesn't really matter what position they're in, when United come and play the fans and players all get up for the game," he told MUTV.
"We expect that so we should have been able to cope with it and had a better start.
"After a bit of a dodgy start we managed to get some football going and thankfully got the goals, big goals for us, that gave us the three points.
"We're in a good position at the minute, we just have to keep playing our football, stay focused from now until the end of the season and hopefully we'll be OK."
With a vital week ahead, Rooney is relishing his timely return to fitness after a hamstring injury and, more recently, a virus kept him sidelined.
"It's a massive week for us," he added.
"We've got the FA Cup Saturday, UEFA Champions League Wednesday and Liverpool Saturday, so it's a massive week for us.
"We have to make sure we prepare right for these games and hopefully we'll do OK."
