Manchester United fans 'are suffering too much', says Ander Herrera following win over Newcastle

Midfielder insists United deserved victory at St James' Park

Manchester United fans are "suffering too much", says midfielder Ander Herrera.

Supporters of the most successful team in British history would have seen yet another incoherent display had they tuned in for the game against Newcastle last night.

Despite Louis van Gaal desribing his team's performance as "maybe our best match of the season", most Manchester United fans wouldn't have agreed and it needed a mistake by Magpies keeper Tim Krul and Ashley Young pouncing on it in the last minute to secure three points.

Herrera told MUTV: "I think we deserved to win. We deserved to score before and we were a little bit disappointed at half-time because we should have been winning.

"We created chances, we kept the ball and we didn't give a lot of chances away - I think only one in the first half, in the last minute. But now we are very happy.

"When you win in the last minute, you are very happy. But I think we have to improve, we have to score earlier because our fans are suffering too much."

On an eventful night at St James' Park, United enjoyed the better of the possession but were unable to make it tell, as skipper Wayne Rooney uncharacteristically passed up two first-half opportunities and saw Krul save from Marouane Fellaini and then, in the space of seconds, Fellaini and Young.

Newcastle were aggrieved not to have been awarded a 10th-minute penalty for what looked like a clear trip by Chris Smalling on Emmanuel Riviere, and the first half ended in controversy with Jonny Evans and Papiss Cisse appearing to spit in each other's direction after an off-the-ball confrontation.

The Magpies looked to have battled their way to a hard-fought point but, with seconds of normal time remaining, Mehdi Abeid stabbed an unwise back-pass towards the unsuspecting Krul, who could only deliver the ball to Young's feet, and he made no mistake with the goal at his mercy.

Ashley Young celebrates the winner for Manchester United against Newcastle (GETTY IMAGES)

Victory proved all the more sweet for the visitors with top four rivals Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham all collecting three points on the night, as Southampton had done 24 hours earlier.

Herrera said: "It felt much more important after the game than before. When I was looking at the results of our rivals I thought it was a very, very important victory because Arsenal won, Liverpool won, Tottenham won, Southampton won.

"You know the battle for the top four is going to be very hard but I think we are in the right way, because we are winning the games through [possession of] the ball and creating more chances than our opponent."

Additional reporting by PA