Van Gaal: Manchester United Are Back In EPL Title Chase

Wayne Rooney’s 78th-minute goal at Anfield earned United an opportunistic win over their archrivals.

Striker Rooney, United’s captain, was omitted from the team for the 2-0 defeat at Stoke City on Boxing Day.

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has said his side are still in the race for the Premier League title after their 1-0 win over Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.

Rooney’s status as United and England’s main man is often questioned – but once again he proved he remains, along with the outstanding De Gea, one of Van Gaal’s most crucial players.

“To beat Liverpool is always important”, he added.

“We put a lot of work into it on the training field, it is disappointing. It is for the fans, for me and the players a fantastic win and it will give us a boost”.

Sunday’s result saw Van Gaal extend his flawless record against Liverpool to four wins from his four meetings with the Merseysiders.

“(Louis) Van Gaal is very keen on telling us that they have done what they have trained, so praising himself.

Rooney has now scored in each of his last four games for United, something that he had not achieved since March 2012 before this afternoon. “We need to continue the start we’ve made to this year, it’s a massive victory for us”.

“The ball from Mata was ideal, as was the header from Fellaini, but he didn’t have the luck that Wayne does”.

They had the better chances but United keeper David de Gea denied Adam Lallana and Emre Can with sharp saves. “We have seen that today, but we can do it. We show every week that we can do it”. Sometimes you play well and get beat and now it is about how we react with a home game in the Cup on Wednesday [the Exeter replay] and away to Norwich on Saturday, which will not be easy.

“I don’t think it’s a very worse (bad) injury, but we have to wait and see because I am not a doctor”, said the Dutchman. United’s victor came out of the blue as the game looked to be heading for a stalemate until Rooney popped up. They still are seven points off the pace of Arsenal and Leicester. Asking them to go on the type of run necessary to catch those two, while also leapfrogging Tottenham and Manchester City is simply too much to ask. You can talk about their performance and it wasn’t that good but they won so they are really happy.