Louis van Gaal was understandably disappointed following the dismissal of Juan Mata at his sides 1-0 defeat to West Brom.
Mata was awarded two yellow cards in quick succession during the first half, but United seemed to remain comfortable despite playing with just ten men.
However, a second-half strike from Salomon Rondon was all that was needed to separate the two sides and United’s chances of getting a top four finish are getting slimmer and slimmer.
Speaking to MUTV, Van Gaal expressed his opinion on the red card decision:
When you have to play ten against 11 it’s much more difficult, but nevertheless we didn’t give many chances away, I think the goal and another chance maybe. But we don’t create too much chances either.
It was not the smartest of fouls from Mata. The referee can whistle I think but he needs to know about the character of Juan Mata. It is his first red card.
When you give a red card within five minutes, two yellow cards, it’s a little bit unbelievable when you know the character of Juan Mata.
The manager was happy with aspects of his team’s performance, but wasn’t pleased to drop the much-needed points:
We were very well organised, and they have one chance and one goal and that was it.
But yes, we have lost and we have lost three points, and this kind of match you have to win when you want to be the champion, or in the first three of the table.
When asked if he was still hopeful of top four the Dutchman said:
You always have chances but what I’ve said in advance is these kind of matches you have to win, and certainly when you have to close the gap because you’ve lost too many matches already.
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