JUAN MATA hailed the ‘amazing’ David de Gea for his incredible display against Tottenham and reserved special praise for Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford.
De Gea pulled off a string of fine saves as United ran out 1-0 winners at Wembley to make it six wins in six for interim manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Pogba set up the winner with a sublime pass for Rashford, who showed great composure to smash past Hugo Lloris when through on goal.
Rashford’s strike meant United went in front at the half-time break and they had to deal with a Tottenham onslaught in the second half.
De Gea stood firm to keep them out and Mata – who was an unused substitute at Wembley – said it was a pleasure to watch his team-mates in action.
“We paid Wembley a visit feeling good, against a Tottenham side that is very tough to play against,” the Spaniard said in his blog on United’s official website.
“They started by pressing us, but we put ourselves in front after a great move just before the half-time break.
“It was a fantastic pass from Paul [Pogba} and the perfect finish from the ‘Wonder Kid’ [Marcus Rashford].
“In the second half, as was expected, Spurs made us suffer, to be honest. But David [De Gea] appeared, once again.
“He showed yesterday that he is an amazing goalkeeper, and the second 45 minutes emphasised that in memorable fashion.
“It seemed impossible that a goal would go in for them.
“He gave off the impression that no matter where they put the ball, it would end up with him. Incredible.
“Thanks to him, and the hard work from all of the team, we took three important points to keep climbing up the table.”
Solskjaer became the first boss in Manchester United history to win his first six games in charge and he can extend that to seven when they host Brighton on Saturday.
“Next weekend we welcome Brighton, with everyone wanting to extend our current run in front of our own fans,” Mata added.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer lauded De Gea after a breathtaking display at Tottenham that underlined to the caretaker manager that he has the “best goalkeeper in the world”.
“Obviously it’s a tough venue to come to,” Solskjaer said after the win. “Spurs are flying at the moment – they score goals, they’ve got some fantastic players and we defended really well.
“We had a fantastic goalkeeper, obviously.
“Second half, we made hard work of it. Maybe because of ourselves they created many, many chances but first half I thought it was spot on.
“Team spirit, we can defend – Jonah [Phil Jones], Victor (Lindelof) fantastic with Luke (Shaw) and Ash (Young) next to them.
“We’ve got the best goalkeeper in the world – I’ve said that many times – and we’ve got blistering pace up front and the goal was fantastic by Rash.
“It’s a hard skill, you know, to score from that angle with a right foot and an instep.
“I thought he was going to go near post, but it was a well-struck finish.”
Source:www.express.co.uk