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Man Utd’s 3-2 Defeat To West Ham Is A Huge Mental Blow, Says Coach Van Gaal

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West Ham
Photo Courtesy: Twitter – @whufc_official

West Ham scripted a perfect end to their 112 year old legacy at Upton Park, defeating Manchester United 3-2 and making it very difficult for Van Gaal’s boys to seal a top-four finish and a place at the Champion’s league.

Manchester United’s bus was attacked on its way to the stadium by West Ham fans and the game was delayed by 45 minutes.

West Ham United started in a full attack mode and took the lead in the 10th minute, taking full advantage of a poor clearance from the Man Utd defence.

Aaron Cresswell took control of the ball from the midfield and sent it rolling to the Argentine Manuel Lanzini, who sent it to Diafra Sakho right at the penalty spot. The striker made no mistake took his chance to goal and all thanks to a deflection off Daley Blind.

Van Gall made a crucial change at half time, bringing Michael Carrick in for not so effective Morgan Schneiderlin and within 6 minutes into the second half Anthony Martial pulled one back for United.

Marcus Rasford’s pass found Juan Mata in the penalty area and the Spaniard lodged a powerful ground pass to unmarked Martial, which only need a tap to find the net.

man utd
Photo Courtesy: Twitter – @ManUtd

Manchester United took the lead in the 72nd minute after a brilliant through ball from Rashford found Martial running down the left wing. Martial ran past the West Ham defence  to beat Darren Randolph at the near post.

Payet kept the hopes alive for the West Ham fans when his drifting cross found Michail Antonio in the penalty area, who headed the ball past De Gea to level the score.

The hosts had more to offer and just after 8 minutes, Payet’s cross from a free kick found  Winston Reid in the penalty area who headed it past De gea to send Upton Park reverberating into a thunderous applause as the lead was restored.

The defeat at Upton Park is a huge blow to Mancheter United’s chances of a top four finish in the Premier League and most importantly a chance to play in the Champions League nexe season.

Top four teams in the Premier League will qualify for the next season’s Champions league and the points table after the 37th gameweek shows that champions Leicester City are at 80 points, followed by Tottenham Hotspur with 70 points and Arsenal at 68 points have already qualified for the European competition.

Red devils have to outplay Bournemouth in their final match at Old Trafford and will need Manchester City to lose against Swansea City on Sunday, to seal a place in the European Competition.

Louis Van Gaal; Pic Courtesy: Twitter - @ManUtd
Louis Van Gaal; Pic Courtesy: Twitter – @ManUtd

“We have fought the whole season for a qualification position for the Champions League. And still we are fighting until the end. On the last day we can finish fourth. It’s still possible… only now we are depending on City,” van Gaal was quoted saying to his club’s website, manutd.com.

“Before this game we had it in our own hands, so that’s the difference. Every defeat is disappointing. Tonight is a mental blow but against Bournemouth we have to give everything so we don’t give Manchester City a free trip into the Champions League.”

“I think the disappointment is because we were 2-1 ahead. We changed the match in our favour, in a fantastic way,” he reflected.

“Then you lose because of the set-plays. I said before the match that we would try to organise everything but still we missed by centimetres. We had a lot of set-play goals against us and that is disappointing because it had a big consequence. You lose a game you have to win.”

Anirban Das
Anirban Das's journey to Delhi via Kolkata involves football, music, curiosity (which one day can kill the cat) and food. Following global football opens up an infinite space within him in both the conscious and subconscious self, away from the din and bustle of the madding crowd. Supports Manchester United & Barcelona

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