Manchester United won six games in a row after beating arch rivals Liverpool by three goals courtesy of Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata and Robin Van Persie. Liverpool created quite a few openings but were denied by the brilliance of United goalkeeper David De Gea who was their standout player and earned the man of the match award.
United manager Louis Van Gaal revealed after the game that he was happy with the result, but the performance could still be better, “In spite of the goals, we gave away a lot of chances and that was every time when we gave unnecessary balls away.
“That’s what we’ve got to improve.”
Liverpool tried to attack United from the onset which resulted in a lot of space for Van Gaal’s side. The Dutchman said that it played into his side’s hands, “It was so easy playing in the second half because we had so much space.
“Nevertheless, we gave the ball away. I can’t answer why – I’ll have to ask the players.”
“Today I think we were the better team and we deserved to win. It was not the same as the match in Southampton.
“We pressed more in front I believe and that was also the key,” he added.
The win keeps United in third place, eight points behind League leaders Chelsea and 10 ahead of Liverpool. The Merseysiders have had a miserable time in the league so far after picking up just 21 points in 16 games. The loss to United pointed out some gaping holes in the squad as the lack of a proven goalscorer came back to haunt them.
United lost the fixture last time by the same margin and were pretty disappointing, but they took their chances well and were full value for the three points ahead of Liverpool.