Manchester United travelled away to the Stadium of Light on Saturday, as they faced off against Sunderland in the Premier League. The Red Devils were not in the best of form going into this one and Louis van Gaal’s side were hoping to secure all three points on their travels. However, things did not go as per plan as the home side took the lead in the 3rd minute of the match when Wahbi Khazri’s strike opened the scoring. The visitors pulled one back just before half-time when Anthony Martial equalized in the 39th minute to make it 1-1.
Both sides went into the break with the score level and either side still had the chance of winning the game in the second half. The two teams looked to push for a goal to give them the lead. David de Gea made some good saves to keep United level in the match. Despite all the efforts, it was the Black Cats who managed to go a goal up, when Lamine Kone’s powerful header rebounded in off the Spanish goalkeeper with just seven minutes to play. The game eventually ended in a 2-1 win to the hosts.
Here is what the Dutch manager had to say in his post-match conference about his side’s loss:
About the game, he said, “We didn’t keep the ball in our team. For example, against Chelsea, we did do it and that is a big difference because you can control the game. We created chances in the second half, we could have scored also but that is not the problem. I think as Manchester United you have to keep the ball in spite of the pressure of Sunderland and create chances. We didn’t have control in the second half. We didn’t have control in the first 20 minutes, we had control in the second 20 minutes and we scored.”
Pointing out the reasons for the loss, “Two set plays, two goals. We know in advance that they could score from set plays. They have a taller team, we have to organise it well but the main reason is that always in a match you shall be compared with your opponent in aggression. I think they played with more aggression because they play with direct balls so second balls are very important to win. We didn’t keep the ball too much in our possession. These kinds of matches you have to win, I said that in advance, and we didn’t do that.”
When asked if the loss is a backward step, he added, “Yes, of course. What I said before the game was we have to win this kind of game and we didn’t. We can only blame ourselves. I do my work to my utmost best. I cannot do more and I shall prepare my players against Midtjylland 100 per cent and I shall do that always.”
About the hopes of a top four finish, he said, “It shall be very difficult now [to finish in the top four] because we give five points away, against Chelsea and here now so it’s too much at this time. I think after this match it [the Europa League] is the best route [into the Champions League] but also, there are some very good teams in the competition.”
Talking about the loss after some good results that his side produced, he stated, “It is a big disappointment. I cannot say it in another way. You prepare this game the whole week. It’s always the big question that if you can cope with the tactics or aggression or some quality of the opposition then you have to show your own ability against that. It is always a question for everyone but today it was very disappointing. We need to win this game because of the big gap between the top four. We want to be there but it shall now be very difficult.”
When asked if he was left down by the players or not, “It is not a question of being let down because the players wanted to deliver but because they don’t deliver today you are disappointed and frustrated but we are working together and pulling at the same string.”
Finally giving an update about the injury to Matteo Darmian, he concluded on a shock note, “It is unbelievable. It is a dislocation [of his shoulder] so he has several weeks out. We don’t have any more full backs in this club.”