Leicester 5-3 Manchester United
Despite all big signing which are mostly midfielders and forwards, the obvious statement is that the defense has really weakened and was dynamited by the modest club of Leicester coming down from a 3-1 deficit to win 5-3!
Coach Van Gaal:
“You never expect that when you’re 3-1 ahead and you are two goals ahead for the second time. You have to kill the game and keep possession but we could not do that. We gave it away with penalties, and you cannot win a game when you do that.
“I think we created a lot of chances and we made superb goals. But a game lasts 90 minutes and you have to do that for 90 minutes, not 60 minutes.”
The game turned when referee Mark Clattenburg awarded a penalty against Rafael for tangling with Jamie Vardy inside the area. And although the Brazilian appeared to be fouled by the Leicester forward in the build-up, van Gaal refused to criticise the penalty decision.
“At that time it was still 3-2, there was not a problem. You can kill the game, you can keep possession, and we kept possession in the first 10 minutes and made a beautiful goal. But then you have to kill the game and we didn’t do that, so you can never say ‘It’s not a penalty’.”
Juan Mata apologizes:
The way back from Leicester to Manchester on the bus seemed really long.
“I keep thinking about how we lost a game that was under control, but the thing is we were ahead, they equalised and when we tried to get advantage again we lost. It’s really tough to score three goals away and come back home with no points. On our way back to Manchester I was thinking about what had happened and felt so disappointed as all those that came with us to the stadium. Honestly, I feel very sorry that the weekend ended up for our fans in such a sad way.
There is time during the week to analyse what happened and learn from our mistakes so as not to make them again. Now we will play two consecutive games at Old Trafford that we want to win for our fans. We will put in our best efforts, you can be sure of that”.
