Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has urged his team to continue their good run of form following their 2-0 win over Crystal Palace.
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United profited from an own goal in the fourth minute when Damien Delaney inadvertently turned a cross from Matteo Darmian into his own net.
With four games remaining, United is only two points behind third-place City and one behind Arsenal, which plays West Bromwich Albion Thursday.
Louis van Gaal believes his team have improved on their overall performance from last season, as his second campaign in charge nears completion.
United are now fifth in the Premier League table and one point behind Arsenal as they bid to end the season on a high by finishing in the top four and winning the FA Cup.
“It will feel great to score in the game that will take us to the final of the FA Cup and I am really looking forward to having a great performance and helping the team book their place in the Fa Cup final in Wembley”, Ighalo told the Hornets Player.preview show. We created a lot of chances and we did not give any chances away – one, maybe, in the first half for Adebayor.
He is expected to lead United’s attack in Saturday’s semi-final against Everton at Wembley, and has also been mentioned as a possible contender for England’s Euro 2016 squad.
The comfortable victory, coupled with Everton’s 4-0 defeat in the Merseyside derby at Liverpool on the same evening, suggests United will be strong favourites for the semi-final, although Van Gaal insisted that all he cared about was collecting the victory against Palace. We needed three points and that is what I said to my players.
The last time United played Everton in the FA Cup, Fellaini was wearing blue.
“We had to win, and that we have done – and now it is another game”.
“Yeah I’ll be fine”, Smalling said.
“You always need guts to put youngsters in the squad and also in the lineup, but of course the academy and all the academy coaches have credit for these players and also the scouts who discovered these boys. It is too important to rotate for freshness for the semi-final”.
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Liverpool were never under any serious or sustained pressure and scored twice late in the first half through Divock Origi and Mamadou Sakho, both from James Milner crosses, before Daniel Sturridge came off the bench to make it 3-0 and Philippe Coutinho finished off the rout. “We have to be focused on the next game against Everton, we want to reach the final. You could see a little bit of that in our play, but I hope you give us a little bit of leeway on that”.
