“I am very happy for the players because they had to play under big pressure and now we have won. But that it is also dependable on whether or not we score goals, because we are always creating chances”.
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“He scored a fantastic goal, with his left foot behind his right foot and you can not imagine what a goal that is”, Van Gaal told reporters.
While United did not score a first- half goal, for the ninth consecutive game at Old Trafford, Van Gaal claimed their display in the opening 45 minutes was superior.
It was also his 238th goal for the Red Devils and moved him above Denis Law on United’s list of goalscorers. So that’s football. A season takes eight months, or something like that, and not one month. “I hope that it is the fantastic starting point for the team, but also him”.
Saturday’s game was the first time Anthony Martial had been on the same scoresheet as Rooney in the league.
Swansea trumped United when they competed at the Liberty Stadium in August, with a Juan Mata opener canceled out by Andre Ayew and Bafetimbi Gomis in the second half.
Wayne Rooney secured a welcome 2-1 victory over Swansea on Saturday with a clever backheel in the 77th minute.
“We are looking always for solutions in the team”.
On paper, Swansea looks the ideal opponent for United to get back to winning ways: No manager following Garry Monk’s firing on December 9, one place above the bottom three, only one away win against last-place Aston Villa this campaign. We note with interest that Van Gaal has started to wonder publicly if getting rid of the rest of his strikers might have been a bit silly. Fantastic. For me, it is an achievement that he scores now and he scored today.
Martial’s goal that opened the scoring and his role in Rooney’s goal, resulted in him being player of the match in the much needed win for the Manchester side. Rooney scores – Martial drives from the left to the byline, fizzes it at Rooney, and he flicks it with a backheel into the far corner. Now I have given confidence to the players to play there. “With Herrera, it was because I wanted to waste time, as Swansea did all match”.
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Van Gaal deployed a three-man defense to give the team more attacking options after its recent scoring woes but when the halftime whistle was blown, United had failed to score a first-half goal again.
