Van Gaal Hails Fantastic Victory Over Arsenal

Louis van Gaal hailed a “fantastic result” after his reshaped Manchester United team secured an invaluable 2-1 win over Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.

Although the Gunners controlled much of the game, it was the Reds who took the lead when Kieran Gibbs converted into his own net on 56 minutes. Wayne Rooney then doubled the advantage with a fabulous chip before Olivier Giroud hit back in added time.

With a host of injuries to consider, the manager reverted to the 3-4-1-2 formation and his decision eventually paid dividends as United clinched a first away win of the season and climbed to fourth spot in the Barclays Premier League.

“It was a fantastic result,” said van Gaal in a post-match interview. “We had a lot of injuries and in spite of that we have won. In an away match, it is very difficult. Arsenal are a very good team, an attacking team and that I knew in advance.

“That is why I chose this strategy and at the end I can laugh, but at the same time, you can imagine that if Arsenal could have scored one of the four or five chances in the first half then maybe this would have been another game.”

Although van Gaal was clearly delighted to learn United are now among the Champions League places, the Dutchman was understandably cautious when asked if Saturday’s result could later be viewed as a turning point in the season as a whole.

“We have to wait and see,” he explained. “Of course, it is the first away victory so the players were very excited in the dressing room but, okay, it is only one victory. We have to confirm that with victories in the next two games that we play at home. Then we can say, okay, we have the spirit now and we will go looking at upstairs and not downstairs.”