I think at times it wasn’t pretty and I think in the second half we played a bit more direct, but we camped in their half.
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Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has broken the Premier League’s goal-scoring record for one club after his 77th minute victor against Liverpool.
Rooney struck after a header by Marouane Fellaini rebounded straight to him off the bar and the United skipper gave keeper Simon Mignolet no chance with his ferocious strike.
Van Gaal said: “It is seven points and seven points we can overcome that”.
The win lifts United to fifth place in the standings, two points adrift of Tottenham Hotspur, which occupies the final Champions League spot. It’s always like that. Wayne Rooney fires home the victor against Liverpool at Anfield.
De Gea – who came close to joining Real Madrid in August – kept United in the game up until Rooney’s victor and Smalling hailed the Spaniard’s influence on the defence this season.
“The smallest of all our problems today was our centre-forward”, said the German, whose side are six points below United in ninth place.
“We made this decision for the line-up and it’s not the problem in this moment”. It’s too easy to say another player in this position would have scored.
Van Gaal has faced criticism from some United supporters for his team’s playing style, with former midfielder Paul Scholes saying they play “negative football”. We have to make sure we are fully concentrated and defending set pieces well and stop conceding. Creating chances was good, finishing was not, otherwise we would have scored a goal.
The Ivorian, who was largely impressive at Anfield, told the club’s official website: “We need to organise better”.
Louis van Gaal has many critics among Manchester United fans but he has given them at least four good reasons to smile since taking over at Old Trafford – four wins in four Premier League matches against Liverpool.
Chris Smalling feels Wayne Rooney being dropped to the bench played a key part in the striker’s recent resurgence for Manchester United.
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Goals at both ends of the field proves to be a problem for Jurgen Klopp’s side and he needs to find a way to plug them at one end and open the floodgates at the other in order to see improvement in the second half of the season.
