Mata: We Needed This Result

Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata claimed the emphatic 4-1 win over Premier League champions Leicester City was the perfect response to recent criticism of the Reds.

The Spanish playmaker's return to the starting line-up was one of eight changes from the midweek EFL Cup win over Northampton Town and he scored one and assisted another goal in the team's standout performance of the season so far.

“I think we needed something like this,” admitted Mata, acknowledging United had gone into the sixth Premier League game after losing the fourth and fifth to Manchester City and Watford.

“There has been a lot of talk about the team in recent weeks but we scored four different goals and showed what we could do.

“Once you score the first one and the second one, you gain confidence and it’s great for the fans because it’s been a while since they have had something to celebrate like this.”

As the goals flew in during a frantic 20-minute spell, Mata scored his second of the season, having also found the net with United's first Premier League strike of 2016/17, at Bournemouth on the opening weekend.

He told MUTV: “It was a nice goal but the most important thing was that it came at an important moment in the game. After we scored the first goal, Leicester were still in the game so the second goal and then the third goal killed off the game.”

The Spaniard's left-footed strike to round off a fine team move was the only one of United's four goals against Leicester that didn't come from a Daley Blind corner. Mata's fellow midfielder Paul Pogba joined Chris Smalling in scoring with a header and when another setpiece fell to Juan, he teed up Marcus Rashford for a close-range finish.

"We have always worked on corners," commented Mata. "As a team we try to get the ball into the box for someone to put it in the back of the net. We tried it a few times last season but it didn't work. Now we know we have strong people, tall people to head the ball in."