MANCHESTER // Louis van Gaal challenged his Manchester United team to produce the performances that will catapult them into the title race after they beat Liverpool 3-0 to record a sixth successive victory.
Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata and Robin van Persie scored the goals for third-placed United, who are eight points behind leaders Chelsea. But Van Gaal said they have only satisfied him with two of their displays in their winning run.
He responded to a query about their chances of competing to be champions by replying: “We have to see match by match. We are winning now six matches in a row.
“That is fantastic, but we have to improve our playing style still. I am saying that nearly every week.”
Only the victories against Queens Park Rangers and Hull City, he said, have really pleased him. He rued missing a chance to be superior to Liverpool for the whole game.
“We could have dominated the game 90 minutes today, but we didn’t do that,” he said.
Van Gaal rejected suggestions that goalkeeper David de Gea was responsible for United’s victory, although the Spaniard made a string of saves from Raheem Sterling and Mario Balotelli. “I want to mention the team instead of individuals,” he said. “That is my philosophy.”
Rooney put United ahead seconds after De Gea’s first stop from Sterling, finishing from Antonio Valencia’s pass. Mata then doubled the lead, heading in after Van Persie had applied a flick to Rooney’s cross that meant the scorer was offside. The Dutchman scored the third after Dejan Lovren sliced a clearance straight to Mata.
“I was disappointed with the first and third goals,” Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers said. “The second was clearly offside. That is a poor decision. I don’t think with the players we have we could have done any more.”
Liverpool, runners-up last season, are barely in the upper half of the division now, and Rodgers said: “We want to recapture the team ethos. It’s pretty clear that we are searching to find solutions in the game to get wins.”
He confirmed he will not rest Sterling and that Brad Jones, who displaced Simon Mignolet in goal, will keep his place.
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