Jesse Lingard opens up on Marcus Rashford and Man Utd celebrations at the Etihad

 
Rashford and Lingard celebrate Manchester United's win over Cit y

The victory has fuelled United's hopes of a top-four finish and the all-important Champions League qualification - while easing the pressure on manager Louis Van Gaal.

With eight games to go – five at home and three away - they are level on points with fifth-placed West Ham and only a point behind fourth-placed City.

Lingard said there was a jubilant atmosphere in the United dressing room after the derby win.

"The manager was buzzing afterwards! It is a massive result and makes it [the race for top four] interesting," he said. "But we have to take it game by game, get our recovery, get our rest and go again.

"We've had two huge games this week. I thought we could have come away with a better result against Liverpool [in the Europa League] but coming to the Etihad we had to stick to the game plan, focus on what we had to do and it was great that we got the goal.

"The win is a big boost going into the international break now. Everyone will be relaxed when they come back and then we have to kick on and focus on beating Everton.

"We have got to take it game by game still. We have game plans for set teams and when we stick to them we usually win." 
Louis van Gaal's Manchester United beat City 1-0 at the Etihad