LOUIS van Gaal believes Manchester United are in a “rat race” to qualify for the Champions League.Ashley Young’s late goal saw the Red Devils win 1-0 win Newcastle United on Wednesday to help United keep pace with the rest of the top-four contenders.
Including Southampton’s victory over Crystal Palace on Tuesday, every team in the top seven of the Premier League won during the midweek round of fixtures and Van Gaal praised his players’ spirit during after securing such a vital late victory.
“I said in the dressing room that I was very pleased with the performance,” he told reporters. “This is a difficult ground to win. We dominated the game.
“When you don’t do that, you can end up with a negative result. It could have been because David de Gea made two fantastic saves. But, I have to say, Tim Krul did also.
“We have waited a long time for the winning goal but it shows the fighting spirit of our team again. I have said that a lot. For me, it was very important to win.
“All our competitors in our rat race [for the top four] have won too.”