Van Gaal - We have learnt from Midtjylland

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal was a happy man after the Red Devils’ comprehensive 3-0 victory against Shrewsbury Town in the FA Cup tonight.

Goals from Chris Smalling, Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard helped United bounce back from a disappointing defeat against Midtjylland in the Europa League in midweek, and they will now face West Ham in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

The pressure on van Gaal will still be on despite this win, but it was a professional performance from United, who dominated possession and in all honesty, the scoreline could have been much worse for the Salop.

Speaking with BT Sport after the game, van Gaal indicated that he was content with the performance:

Now I’m satisfied. I was very pleased. We have played 70 minutes fantastic, in a professional way, creating chances and scoring goals. After 70, we were with 10 and it was more difficult.

The United manager also said that Mata’s free-kick was a result of something they learned from the defeat against Midtjylland on Thursday:

We have learnt because we have analysed Midtjylland, and we have seen that they are doing that, and we think that it is always offside, so we have asked the referees at that time and they are saying no, it is not offside, so that’s why we have learnt off Midtjylland the taking of the free-kicks, so we have scored today, and that’s good.

However, van Gaal cursed United’s luck with injuries, with Will Keane and Cameron Borthwick-Jackson both coming off with knocks during the game:

No, it is unbelievable [Keane’s injury], because also Borthwick-Jackson, I changed him at half-time because he was injured. I changed Mata and Martial to give them rest, and the substitutes are more or less injured.

Van Gaal also gave an update on David de Gea, who injured his knee in the warm-up for the game against Midtjylland, and is a doubt for the second leg: