Sir Alex Ferguson hailed the manner in which Robin van Persie "changed the game" for Manchester United following their 2-0 victory over West Brom on Saturday.
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The Dutch striker sealed the win for the Red Devils, scoring in the final minute of second-half injury time to notch his 17th goal of the season.
Ferguson had left his goal machine on the bench for the start of the game, giving Danny Welbeck a rare start as the lone striker, but the Scot finally brought Van Persie on when it looked as if the Baggies were getting themselves back into the tie.
And he closed out the game in sublime fashion, his curling effort into the far corner ensuring the 29-year-old has now scored 62 goals in his last 75 Premier League outings.
"He is a fantastic player," said the United boss. "He came on and changed the game for us. Every time the ball came up to him he got hold of it and turned on them.
"They were having to go back to their box all the time and he has done well.
"They were a very resilient, stubborn team. They worked really hard on their defending and closed all their ranks. You have to deal with that but the slowness of the pitch killed our speed a bit."
The league leaders clash with Wigan on New Year's Day and Ferguson has hinted he will tinker with his squad, adding: "It will be a hard game.
"Hopefully we can freshen up again. Possibly Phil Jones will be ready and Rafael will be ready. We rested Javier Hernandez, and also Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, so we have enough freshness to bring in."
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