Manchester United put forward a convincing performance at Old Trafford as Wayne Rooney led his side to a 2-0 win against Sunderland. The striker rose to his managera s challenge while Di Maria was substituted mid way through the game as Van Gaal confessed that his star winger was not ready for the English Premier League.
Angel Di Maria was substituted mid-way through the game as Louis Van Gaal brought on Adnan Januzaj who had a good impact in the second half. The manager believes that Di Maria is not ready for the English Premier League and backed his decision to take him off the pitch at Old Trafford against Sunderland.
a When a player isn’t in a game, I have to make a change. I’m the manager and I can’t deny what I see on the pitch. We were better in the second half, so I cannot say it was the wrong decision.a
a We have to give Angel more time to adapt to the Premier League; it’s not so easy with the high tempo. I want to give him time, it’s also not easy to change a player of his quality, but I have to make these decisions.”
Van Gaal admitted that Manchester United started the game in a nervous state after losing their previous fixture to Swansea City but claimed that his side improved drastically in the second half and could have added more goals to the final score-line.
“We started the match poorly. I think we were nervous, which is understandable after the defeat to Swansea. After the first quarter of the match, we started to create more chances and we played much better in the second half. We had much more composure on the ball, the tempo was better and we stretched the play from one wing to another. I was pleased with the performance, especially in the second half. We scored twice but could have got more.”
The manager also added that his players should have scored more goals as a good goal-difference comes in handy in the rat-race to qualify for Champions League
“It was comfortable, because they had 10 men and we didn’t give them any chances in the second half. We played with control, it’s a step in the process to finish a game off when you are winning. Perhaps [Marouane] Fellaini could have scored, and there was also [Antonio] Valencia’s shot, so we could have scored more goals. Goal difference can be very important at the end of the season in this rat race for the top four.”
Van Gaal also heaped praise on his captain who scored twice, first from a penalty, to give Manchester United three deserved points. Speaking about the penalty, Van Gaal claimed that he was happy with Rooneya s decision to keep the ball low in order to beat the goal-keeper.
a He said to me, and he was right, that he usually hits penalties high into the goal. Today, he shot along the ground because of their tall goalkeeper and I was very happy that was the case.”
The game was marred but the refereea s curious decision to send off Wes Brown while it was John Oa Shea who had committed the foul on Radamel Falcao which led to Manchester United earning a penalty kick in the second half. Television replays suggested that it was John Oa Shea who brought Falcao down but the Professional Game Match Officials Limited defended the referee Roger Easta s decision to show Wes Brown the red-card.
“From his position, Roger East, the match referee, believed he saw contact from John O’Shea and Wes Brown. As he thought Brown made a foul on Falcao as he was in the act of shooting, he dismissed Brown. After the incident, the match referee consulted with his team of officials, but none were better placed to offer guidance,a read a statement from the above mentioned association.
Meanwhile Sunderland manager Gus Poyet claimed that the club will analyse the refereea s actions and accordingly take a decision regarding the suspension.
“You need to ask the referee why he made the decision. We will analyse it and make a decision.”