Ruud van Nistelrooy, “I spoke to Sir Bobby Robson in our hotel before the game and I promised him that goal. It was good to see him and he told me that it was exactly a year ago he got the sack at St James Park, so that goal was for him.”
Van Nistelrooy is upbeat about the coming season, “We are confident in the sense that we have gone five games now this season and we haven’t conceded any goals. It is very solid. From the midfield to the defence back to Edwin, it is all very tight.
“That gives the strikers a great feeling to go for a goal until late on as well. It is another win and a very positive result. Football-wise, we didn’t do enough because we gave Newcastle the opportunities to get around us and put us under pressure. We upped the tempo in the second half. We spoke about it at half time. We didn’t play enough football in the first half to play out of their pressure. Second half we did better.
“This is what the manager wants from us. Last year, United lost and drew too many games and lost too many games in the first 10 matches of the season. It is a good start because we are winning we want to maintain this. It is always nice to have clean sheets, but the main thing is we are winning. That is the main focus.
“We didn’t want to fall too far behind, so that is why we are very focused. The highlights, of course, go to the strikers, but I think the defenders and midfield are playing a decent game. The main thing for me is the defence to play well.”