Rafa Benitez has congratulated Matty Longstaff – and aimed a dig at Mike Ashley.

A goal from Longstaff on what was the midfielder’s Premier League debut gave Newcastle United a 1-0 win over Manchester United on Sunday.

“I was really pleased to see Matty Longstaff scoring the winning goal,” said Benitez, who left the club in the summer and is now in charge of Dalian Yifang, “He was great when he was training with us, and it was a good decision from Steve Bruce to make him play.”

Benitez wanted United owner Ashley to invest more in the club’s Academy during his time at St James’s Park.

“I was also happy to see a few Geordies playing together at the same time,” said Benitez in a blog post from China. “Surely it shouldn’t be difficult to see the benefits of investing in the Academy?”