Until the 70th minute, the match between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur was a fairly dull affair. Neither goalkeeper had much to do and we had the best opportunity to score with Anthony Martial, but after getting himself in a great position, he fired straight at Hugo Lloris.
However, in a period of six minutes, United fell apart at the back and conceded three goals. Despite United only having the one shot on target before that point, Louis van Gaal thinks we played well.
No, until the first goal, we were at least the equal team and the better chance was for us with Martial. It was a big chance, with a big space and a big time for him, but we gave the goal away with miscommunication and then you know what happened next. Within five minutes, we were out of the game.
You don’t clear your head and I think that is strongly expressed, because the second goal is a set-play and our best header [Chris Smalling], or one of our best headers, lost his duel and it was a fantastic header from Alderweireld. But it is happening and it cannot happen. That is also what I said to him.
I think Tottenham is a great team and I have said that also in advance of this match. But, until the first goal, I think we were a good team who were playing good in Tottenham and we also had a big chance for a goal, so you cannot say the way that we have lost… Yes 3-0 is a big negative result but the way that we have played until the first goal was good.”
