Boss Reaction To Dramatic Cup Win

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal was relieved to see the Reds progress to the fourth round of the Emirates FA Cup thanks to Wayne Rooney's last-gasp winner from the penalty spot. The boss spoke to MUTV and BT Sport after the match and had this to say...

On the chances in the game
You have to play more quickly than we did in first half and you have to play with wingers. We didn’t do that in the first half. The second half was a little bit better, we created a little bit more but not too much because they were very well organised.

On the crucial penalty
At the end we got the penalty and it was a deserved penalty because of a stray leg. Memphis had the guts to do that [make the run to win it]. He was more or less the matchwinner. We won the game which is the most important thing and I said to the boys before the match the only thing that counts is we are in the fourth round and we did it.

On creating more opportunities
We have to do it [create chances] better than this match of course. We have to move the ball quicker and then the gaps will come. You have to see it as a player and the pass has to be at the right speed. We can improve in that but how many chances did Sheffield United create? Nobody is talking about that, everybody is talking about the fantastic defence of Sheffield United - I don’t think you can do any differently as a player of the League One level.

Rooney taking the penalty
He was the third man [choice]. I changed the no.1 [Juan Mata] and no.2 taker [Ander Herrera] so he was lucky! [Smiles]

On frustration from the crowd
It's also frustrating for the players and frustrating for the staff because we are seeing this match. They are wasting time. The referee is doing well, I think, in the first half there were three minutes' injury time and, in the second, also extra minutes. He cannot do more. It is like that - they are coming here to frustrate us. Everyone can see it's very difficult to disrupt them but, at the end, Manchester United have won for the second time in a row.

On the possibility of January signings
I don’t think it's very wise to purchase players in January. When it is possible and we think someone can give us a contribution of our level of course we shall do it, but normally we don’t do that. We didn’t also last year I believe.