Mata: Still Work To Do

Juan Mata insisted Manchester United still have work to do to reach the EFL Cup final, despite beating Hull City 2-0 in the first leg of the semi-final at Old Trafford.

After a period of frustration, the Spaniard broke the deadlock with a close-range finish before substitute Marouane Fellaini’s late header gave the Reds a two-goal cushion heading into the second leg at the KCOM Stadium on Thursday 26 January.

United will undoubtedly be many people’s favourites to progress to next month’s final at Wembley but, although he believes the result was a fair reflection of the team’s performance, Mata feels the tie still has to be won in Hull.

Speaking to MUTV after the game, United's Man of the Match said: "We didn't concede, we scored twice. I think Marouane's goal was very important as well - so we are a little bit closer but it's not over yet.

"It’s a little bit like what was happening in a few games earlier in the season. We were playing well, we were creating chances but we were not scoring.

"We scored twice in the second half which is a good result for us. For me it's very important to create the chances and to play good football because if we play like this I think we are obviously closer to the win.

"[The clean sheet] was very important in this semi-final and we didn't concede a lot of chances. There was one [effort against the] post that could have been a goal but after that our defenders were ready and very focused and that was very important for us."

Jose Mourinho’s men will be confident of completing the job against the injury-hit Tigers, who currently sit bottom of the Premier League, when making the trip to Yorkshire in a fortnight’s time for the return game.

But Mata admitted the Reds must guard against complacency and be clinical in order to book their place in the final against either Southampton or Liverpool at the end of February.

"Hull need to score, they need to go for the win so we need to be ready for that," he added. "We know that they create a tough atmosphere in their stadium but we will try to be ready for that.

"We will try to score as well because if we score it makes a massive difference there and hopefully we can then be at Wembley again. That would be amazing for us and amazing for our fans."

Mata was named Man of the Match after fans voted on United's official Twitter account, @ManUtd. Paul Pogba and Antonio Valencia were also on the shortlist selected by MUTV pundit and former Reds defender Gordon McQueen.