The Manchester United striker enjoyed a positive first campaign in England after arriving at Old Trafford as a relatively unknown talent in the summer transfer window.
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Jose Mourinho. Is he the new Manchester United manager?
Van Gaal insisted that he had built the foundations of lasting success at United by delivering the first trophy since Sir Alex Ferguson retired after a three-year hiatus.
Asked if he feared he was about to lose his job, Van Gaal told a news conference: “I show you the Cup, and don’t discuss it with my friends in the media, who [have] sacked me for six months”.
‘I have taken the risk and now I ca be happy because we have won something it is a very hard decision to do that, because I gambled with youngsters but I thought we need the speed of the youngsters’. “Thankfully I was”, Lingard said.
De Gea came to United’s rescue as he saved with his feet from Dwight Gayle before Michael Carrick headed a good chance wide at the other end.
Mourinho returned to London last week and his Knightsbridge home is less than two miles away from United’s London office, where Woodward has remained since he replaced former chief executive David Gill in 2013. “I don’t want to talk about leaving”.
Antonio Valencia’s drilled cross was cleared by Damien Delaney, but the ball popped up for Lingard, who sent a volley whistling into the top-left corner before tearing off his shirt and racing towards the United end in gleeful celebration.
But van Gaal said: “It was unbelievable that injuries, again, were there”.
Manchester United have won the FA Cup in extra time, denying Socceroo and Crystal Palace captain Mile Jedinak his moment of glory.
Palace manager Alan Pardew, meanwhile, met with FA Cup heartbreak for the third time, having been on the losing side against United with the south London club in 1990 and overseen West Ham’s defeat on penalties by Liverpool in 2006.
“I need the players that I have asked (for)”, he said.
“But Mark makes a mistake for the Connor one, you could see where I was that Connor was going to get up first”.
He praised his players for playing with “heart and passion” and said that the club had conducted itself with “dignity”.
United made the more unsafe chances throughout the game, hitting the post twice early in the second half through Fellaini and young French striker Anthony Martial.
United skipper Rooney, who impressed in midfield, led his side up the Wembley stairs and collected a first FA Cup winners’ medal to complete his set of domestic trophies.
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He said: “It is a great atmosphere and the team is really close”.
