It was to be a day of relief and celebration at Old Trafford for Louis Van Gaal and Manchester United fans alike as they secured the three points against a resilient Swansea City side that United have struggled against in the past two seasons.
United carried on the attacking brand of football they played against Chelsea as they secured a 2-1 win against Swansea City at Old Trafford.
United opened the scoring with an impressive effort following a couple of tricks and flicks from Ashley Young as he delivered a good ball to the French teenager.
Dead ball specialist Gylfi Sigurdsson gave Swansea a glimmer of hope with a header in the 70th minute of play, but United remained persistent for the remainder of the game and with good cause as Anthony Martial swung in a good ball for Rooney in the box and the United captain converted the opportunity with no hesitation.
There was some reason for concern when Swansea scored an equaliser as the last three meetings between the two sides had ended 2-1 with Swansea being the victors on all three occasions, but that was not to be the case at Old Trafford this afternoon.
The victory brings United closer to their primary objective of finishing within a top four spot.
The Red Devils currently sit at fifth place on the table following the hard-fought victory against the Swans although they could drop down to sixth place if in-form Crystal Palace defeats Chelsea.
The pressure on Van Gaal will surely reduce after this result as he seems to have finally gotten the squad to play some Sir Alex Ferguson brand of football.
United dominated the game on all fronts as they had a possession Stat of 55% as opposed to Swansea’s 45%, they also bettered Swansea’s attempts on goal with 5 shots on target as opposed to Swansea’s tally of 4.
With the January transfer window currently underway it will be quite interesting to see what Van Gaal has in store for United.
Having been linked with the likes of Felipe Anderson and Lucas Moura, United fans will be optimistic about United’s chances of a top four finish or possibly the Premier League title.
