Manchester United never give up, we all know that. Nothing encapsulated that spirit more than in the English Premier League game against Newcastle United at Old Trafford.
Javier Hernandez struck a winner in stoppage time as United came back from a goal down three times to pull off an amazing 4-3 victory over the Magpies in a Boxing Day cracker.
Jonny Evans, Patrice Evra and Robin Van Persie scored the other goals for the league leaders, with Newcastle finding the target through James Perch, Papiss Cisse and an Evans own goal.
It did not begin so well for United, like it has done so many times in the season so far. Newcastle, who almost never pick up a positive result in the Theatre of Dreams, went ahead in the fourth minute through Perch.
Michael Carrick gave the ball away in a dangerous area, with Demba Ba latching onto the ball and forcing a save from David De Gea. The rebound fell perfectly to Perch, who beat Rio Ferdinand to slot it into the back of the net.
Newcastle had their tails up and were looking dangerous, with Ba, particularly, causing problems to the United defense.
After a little bit of probing from the away side, it was the home team that equalized from nowhere.
A freekick from Van Persie, took a couple of deflections before falling perfectly for Javier Hernandez to take a strike. The shot from seven yards out was well kept out by Tim Krul, but Evans jumped onto the rebound to slot it into an empty net in the 25th minute.
Newcastle were back in front three minutes later in controversial circumstances. Danny Simpson struck a cross-shot from outside the box, which Evans could only turn into his own net, much to Newcastle's delight. However, the assistant referee put his flag up for offside on Papiss Cisse, who was being marshalled by Evans.
After much consultation, referee Mike Dean gave the goal to Newcastle, amid much protests from United.
The home team came out in the second half in the hunt for the equalizer and it came just before the hour mark via Evra, who cannot seem to stop scoring for his club right now.
Van Persie again swung in a freekick, which was not cleared well enough by Perch, with Evra taking possession and driving a low shot into the bottom corner past Krul's left hand.
The drama was far from over, however, as Newcastle's forgotten man Cisse powered home a left footed drive in the 68th minute, after a nice cross from former Red Devil Gabriel Obertan.
The lead only lasted three minutes, however, with Van Persie, who else, equalizing after getting two bites at the cherry - making no mistake the second time, slotting with his left foot into the bottom corner.
United now looked like the team that could go on and win it, with Hernandez and Van Persie missing a couple of good chances.
"Chicharito" had a good penalty shout turned down by Riley, after his shot struck Fabricio Coloccini on the arms. Everyone then would have put their money on Van Persie making it 4-3, but the prolific Dutchman skewed his shot wide from close-range.
Hernandez should have made it 4-3, but could only direct a free header, off a cross from Antonio Valencia, directly at Krul.
Substitute Sammy Ameobi nearly won all three points for Newcastle, but saw his brilliant strike from outside the box strike the post and fall kindly into the arms of De Gea.
As is always the case, United found a way to pull off a victory. Michael Carrick played a nice ball over the top of the Newcastle defense for Hernandez, who had missed another close-range header a little earlier, to sweep home in the first minute of stoppage time.
The win will matter even more after title rivals Manchester City dropped all three points against Sunderland, courtesy a goal from former City player Adam Johnson. City are now seven points behind the leaders.
The goal came in the 53rd minute with Johnson cutting in from the right before firing a shot with his left foot, which Joe Hart could only palm into his own net; the goalkeeper will be disappointed to have let the ball through.
At Carrow Road, Juan Mata scored the only goal of the game for Chelsea as the Blues continued their resurgence under Rafa Benitez with a 1-0 victory over Norwich City.
City fell further behind United in the title race, with the Red Devils going seven points clear, as Chelsea, in turn, closed the gap on City, with just four points separating the two teams.
Results: Manchester United 4-3; Aston Villa 0-1 Chelsea; Everton 2-1 Wigan; Fulham 1-1 Southampton; Reading 0-0 Swansea; Sunderland 1-0 Manchester City; QPR 1-2 West Brom.
