Manchester United News Update: Team Eyed To Be Included In The Top Four Place, Says Van Gaal
Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal remarked that their top-four hopes would have absolutely faded had they not managed to dominate Manchester City in the tight rae for the Champions League qualification.
On Sunday, Marcus Rashford's goal secured the famous football club the much-needed derby victory they needed. With the victory, United is just a point behind City.
"The gap would have been too big if we had drawn or lost. It would have been very difficult. Now it is in our own hands but we have to win our games. We have more home matches than away and we don't lose so much at Old Trafford - so we have a big chance," remarked van Gaal as quoted by BBC News.
In the exceptionally desperate but decisive moment, teenage footballer Marcus Rashford scored a record-breaking goal in Premier history as he raced past the aging Argentine-born mid-way in the first half. With the unexpected goal, pundits think that they could plausibly overtake City in the race to the fourth Champions League ranking as mentioned in a report by Metro.
The Sunday match was a morale boost to United but an embarrassment for City given the latter's early advantage and the former's various ordeals in the season as reported by Irish Times. Van Gaal was repeatedly criticized for rallying a group of Old Trafford's most unremarkable mediocre players in 30 years.
Had the United failed to reach a top-four finish, it would have been their second in three years of missing out on the Champions League- something that fans have been accustomed to in the club's decades-long history.
"It hurts that we are not in it, of course. We had a year out of the Champions League and we missed it. We do miss it. You watch it on TV and you wish you were involved. It's the elite competition," said Manchester United assistant Ryan Giggs as quoted in a report by Manchester Evening News.
