Louis van Gaal has moved to play down fears surrounding Anthony Martial’s fitness levels after the striker pulled out of Manchester United’s 1-0 win at Norwich City on Saturday.
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But Mata netted what proved to be the decisive goal in the 72nd minute, meeting Wayne Rooney’s lay-off with a composed strike beyond John Ruddy.
“Today was about winning”, said Mata.
With Pellegrini’s side heading to Wales to face Swansea City, and United welcoming Bournemouth to Old Trafford, Van Gaal’s team would need to take as many points as their rivals to ensure a Champions League place. “We do everything for the fans”.
Despite many reports suggesting Mourinho will be appointed in a matter of weeks, the fact that United now have their hopes of a top four finish back in their own hands and an FA Cup Final to look forward too, Van Gaal may yet get to see out the third year of his contract.
Norwich, which hasn’t scored in four games, was unable to make any real impact on the match and remains 19th on 31 points with two games left.
Sutton went further, saying: “I don’t understand it at all if you need to nick a goal in the last 15 minutes”.
“We have to keep fighting. It’s a bit late in the day now”.
In terms of player performances, David De Gea made a smart save early in the game but had little to do otherwise, Chris Smalling was resolute in defence, and Antonio Valencia was once again solid but unspectacular.
One of either Sunderland or Newcastle are most likely going to be relegated to the Championship, if not both.
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– Manchester United have kept more clean sheets than any other Premier League team this season (18).
