United, having teetered above the drop zone for much of the campaign, are now six points clear of the bottom three.
And a cautiously optimistic Alan Pardew is now looking up the table for the first time in months.
Alan Pardew: “You look at us and think ‘well, we’re not out of it yet’.
“But you look above us, and we’re not that far away from Stoke – three points.
“That’s what we’ve got to do now – attack the league and see where we can end up.”