Tags
Louis van Gaal is targeting two more victories in his Manchester United side’s final Premier League games of the season as they continue their quest for a Champions League spot.
Juan Mata’s second-half goal against second-from-bottom Norwich City secured a 1-0 win at Carrow Road on Saturday that left United fifth in the Premier League.
Anything other than victory for City would put United’s bid for a top-four finish in their own hands.
FA Cup finalists United head to West Ham on Tuesday before completing their league season against Bournemouth.
“Obviously the main thing for us was to get the three points today and we did that well,” United manager van Gaal said.
“I thought we looked comfortable. It was much-needed and now we can concentrate on the West Ham game.
“They (Norwich) sat back deep and let us play, they made it tough for us,” the Dutchman added.
INJURIES
Victory came at a price as van Gaal was forced to re-think his plans when 15-goal attacker Anthony Martial was injured in the warm-up.
Wayne Rooney moved further forward as the main attacking threat and it was Rooney who capitalised on Sebastian Bassong’s mistake to tee-up Mata for the winner.
Martial is a doubt for the West Ham game as is full back Matteo Darmian who was stretchered off in the first half following a clash with Norwich defender Ivo Pinto.
Darmian’s knee injury was the more serious of the two and the Italian’s participation at the European Championships in France, which start in June, could be at risk.
“We don’t know the extent of the injuries to either at this stage but it was a blow for everybody because we had to change my plans,” said van Gaal.
“With Wayne Rooney up front after Anthony was injured in the warm-up we had to adapt but he did the job today. When players are out of the team, it can be hard to fill the void but we did that today.
“Especially here it is a tight pitch and it’s a battle to draw out points like that, but they all count at the end of the season.
“I was expecting them (Norwich) to press more but they let us play. Our focus now is recovery, we have got to prepare right mentally as there will be a good atmosphere there (West Ham) and hopefully we will get the job done there as well.”
There are no comments.
Saying goodbye is never easy, especially when you are saying farewell to those that have left a positive impression. That was the case earlier this month when Canada hosted Mexico in a friendly at BC Place stadium in Vancouver.
Some 60mn primary-school-age children have no access to formal education
Lekhwiya’s El Arabi scores the equaliser after Tresor is sent off; Tabata, al-Harazi score for QSL champions
The Yemeni Minister of Tourism, Dr Mohamed Abdul Majid Qubati, yesterday expressed hope that the 48-hour ceasefire in Yemen declared by the Command of Coalition Forces on Saturday will be maintained in order to lift the siege imposed on Taz City and ease the entry of humanitarian aid to the besieged
Some 200 teachers from schools across the country attended Qatar Museum’s (QM) first ever Teachers Council at the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) yesterday.
The Supreme Judiciary Council (SJC) of Qatar and the Indonesian Supreme Court (SCI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on judicial co-operation, it was announced yesterday.
Sri Lanka is keen on importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar as part of government policy to shift to clean energy, Minister of City Planning and Water Supply Rauff Hakeem has said.