Van Nistelrooy: The only way is up

The temporary boss had his say on the match, which featured strikes by Bruno Fernandes and Alejandro Garnacho, either side of an own goal by Victor Kristiansen, and also an uplifting moment after the final whistle, when he applauded the crowd and saluted the Stretford End.

Ruud paused to accept the acclaim coming his way and he has steered the ship magnificently, in advance of Ruben Amorim's arrival on Monday.

Here is a selection of what he had to say to the official broadcasters afterwards...

A PROFESSIONAL PERFORMANCE

"You put that nicely, professional. I could see the players were fighting themselves through the game in the end. There were some good bits. We scored two great goals and the own goal was a good attack as well. I agree it's an important three points. The most important was the league position, which needed to be improved. It was a very good performance and we could not have done better. The class of the team shows and we gave very little away, except on big occasion. The one-on-one [with Wilfried Ndidi], when Andre Onana did a great job stopping that. It was a professional performance and a great closure of the four games."

"He can always try! It's a good sign! He's scored a few important goals and got back on the scoresheet, and is assisting as well, for Garnacho's goal. At least he's back producing goals and assists and that's the Bruno helping the team the most. He's done that on a special occasion as well as he had his 250th game today."

GARNA NOT CELEBRATING HIS GOAL

"It doesn't really matter to me. I saw it going into the top corner and I'm glad it worked out. I spoke to him before the game and said he'd had a lot of games and a lot of minutes, so you need to make the difference from the bench. I'm glad it worked out. The team, as a whole, fought and did everything they could."

THE ONLY WAY IS UP

"What we try to do is obviously try to stabilise, after a very difficult, emotional period. You want to get the players performing at their best, so a lot of communication and training sessions, to get the right feeling across to them. It's about believing in themselves and, look, the only way is up. It's where we want to go, as a club and as a team, to get results going and build on it."

THE GOAL

"I wanted to bring United into a better place. It was my absolute goal, together with the players, and it's three wins and a draw. Getting 11 goals at Old Trafford, and only three against, is the standard you want to go to as a club. I think it's something to build on."

WHAT A MOMENT AT THE END

"The connection is there. It's what United is about. Being together and getting results. I'm proud of that and thankful to the supporters. It was beautiful moment. To come back to the club and I've started working, and then doing thee four games. All at home, getting some good results and some good goals. There are some good bits to build on. To close it down with this, it's special. My dad was here, my son. So it was a fantastic moment."