Mata Explains Goal Celebration

Two-goal Juan Mata has dedicated his second goal in Manchester United’s draw at Leicester City to a group of youngsters from Mumbai.

The midfielder netted with a precise finish to cancel out Jamie Vardy’s opener before curling home a sublime free-kick to put United ahead in the second half, but the Reds were denied victory by a last-gasp Harry Maguire equaliser in an ultimately frustrating 2-2 draw at the King Power Stadium.

Mata celebrated his brilliant effort in the 60th minute with a prayer symbol – fulfilling a promise he made to a group of children from the OSCAR Foundation who travelled from Mumbai to visit him at Old Trafford back in October.

Speaking to MUTV after the game, the Spaniard explained his celebration: “It was because when the kids from the OSCAR Foundation that we work with for Common Goal came to Old Trafford to visit me, they asked if I could do this kind of celebration for them.

“For the first goal, I didn't do it because we needed another goal but, for the second one, I thought about them and this goal was dedicated to those kids in Mumbai.”

Following his visit to Mumbai in the summer, Juan helped to launch the new global initiative Common Goal which aims to convince players to donate one per cent of their salary to Football For Good charities such as the OSCAR Foundation.

Back in October, a group of 14 youngsters, aged 11 to 14, from the OSCAR Foundation, travelled from Mumbai, along with coach Maruti Chauhan and OSCAR Foundation founder Ashok Rathod, for a behind-the-scenes tour of Old Trafford with Mata and to attend a unique photography exhibition at the National Football Museum Hall of Fame in Manchester.

Against Leicester, Mata took his tally to three goals for the season with his brilliant brace but was disappointed not to be on the winning side.

He said: “[For the first goal] I got into the box and Jesse [Lingard] laid the ball off for me and I tried to shoot at goal. I think it was between the legs of the defender and it went it at the far post. The other one was a nice free-kick, but now I'm feeling disappointed because they weren't enough to win.”

United were left to rue a series of missed opportunities against the Foxes and Mata admitted the draw felt like a defeat.

“We didn't kill the game and we should have killed it – it’s easy to say now,” our no.8 added. “If we won, we would have been saying it was a fantastic game and we came back and did the most difficult thing which was to score twice after they went ahead. But that's football and in the last seconds they put the ball into the box and scored.

"You have to keep going, particularly at Christmas time when you play every two or three days," he added. "Now we feel frustrated and angry, but we need to keep going and from tomorrow, rest and think about the next game. Obviously we aim to finish the next one with a much better feeling."