Louis van Gaal has showered heaps of love and praise on Manchester United’s new boy Memphis Depay after watching him stun Club Brugge with his sumptuous performance on Tuesday night.
The Dutch striker scored twice before setting up substitute Marouane Fellaini for another in the stoppage time as United Belgian outfit in the first leg of their Champions League play-off at Old Trafford.
“I have confidence in him. He showed what he can do tonight. He scored two goals and got the assist for the other. I want to kiss him tonight,” Van Gaal said in the post-match news conference.
Despite scoring two magnificent goals for his side, Depay left the arena with a tinge of disappointment as his efforts to complete the hat-trick remained fruitless.
“I’m happy that I scored, and of course I’m happy that we won, but I must admit I’m a bit disappointed because I could have scored the last two chances and got a hat-trick,” Depay said.
The £25million forward played with menace and drive and should have achieved the landmark with more patience in front of goal. He unsuccessfully tried to square the ball to Adnan Januzaj in the Brugge box in the first half when he was in better position to fire himself instead.
In the second session as well, he ploughed the ball into the Stretford End after a glorious move that contained a surging run from Luke Shaw and a neat backheel from Wayne Rooney.
Depay top scored in the Dutch league last season when he struck 22 times for PSV and Van Gaal was happy he gave the United crowd a glimpse of his talent.
