Mata's Volley At Liverpool Is Goal Of The Season

It doesn’t get much better than a volleyed winner at Anfield, so it is perhaps no surprise that Juan Mata has won Manchester United’s Goal of the Season award for his second strike in the 2-1 win over Liverpool in March.

The goal was originally on a shortlist of 10 that was whittled down to the four leading contenders that had earned the most votes on ManUtd.com’s seven official websites.

This second shortlist also included Angel Di Maria’s lofted finish at Leicester City, Ander Herrera’s long-range effort in the FA Cup third round tie against Yeovil Town and Wayne Rooney's acrobatic half-volley at home to Aston Villa.

Fans were encouraged to vote in the fresh poll on the club’s official Twitter account, @ManUtd, which opened on Monday and was open throughout Tuesday evening until just before the winner was announced at the club’s annual awards night at Old Trafford.

Mata earned 59 per cent of the votes on Twitter and beat off competition from Di Maria, whose strike at Leicester came second, Rooney and Herrera to claim his prize. And the Spaniard was delighted with the award.

"I am very happy," he said. "It was a very important moment in the game. It was a great pass from Angel [Di Maria], he saw my run and I just tried to take it first time - luckily it went in.

"As soon as you play against Liverpool at Anfield or Old Trafford you feel it's a different game. It's my best day since I came here. It was an important win and a very good moment.

"We want to keep improving," added Mata, when asked about his aims for next season. "We did what we had to do this season which was to get back into the Champions League. But I have always known this club fighting for trophies and next season we will try to win every competition we are in."