Louis van Gaalwas unhappy despite Manchester United recording its fourth win in a row — the Red Devils’ best run under the Dutchman — in a 2-1 victory against Stoke City atOld Trafford on Tuesday. “I am not happy with the performance,” Van Gaal said. “I was not pleased with the first half. We were not so aggressive as in the last match and we want to play inthe same style. I think we don’t keep our positions on the pitch so we don’t create so many chances in the first half.”
United, missing injured forwards Wayne Rooney andAngel Di Maria, took the lead after 21 minutes through a fine header from Marouane Fellaini that was later canceled out by Steven Nzonzi five minutesbefore the break. Juan Mata netted what proved to be the winner on the hour-mark with a long-distance free-kick that appeared to touch Marcos Rojo on the way passedStoke goalkeeper Asmir Begovic. In stoppage time, the visitor nearly equalized twice when former United forward Mame Biram Diouf was denied first by David DeGea and then by a goal-line clearance from Ashley Young.
Despite the late flurry, van Gaal said his team deserved the win: “You have to see the whole match andsay there is one team that deserved it and that is Manchester United,” he said. “Maybe we forced the luck more and that is coming also because of the fighting spirit.”
However,Stoke coach Mark Hughes disagreed, saying that Mata’s goal should have been disallowed because replays showed that Rojo was offside when the ball was served. “It doesn’tmatter if Rojo touches it. He is clearly offside and interfering with play,” Hughes said. “The referee and assistant should have canceled it out.”