Mata Urges Man United To Remain Focused

Anfield match-winner Juan Mata warned his Manchester United teammates on Monday that they still have a long way to go in the Premier League race for Champions League qualification.
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Mata scored a superb brace on Sunday as United won 2-1 at Liverpool to move five points clear of their rivals in the battle for a top-four finish.
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Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur are both two points further back, but with games against Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal still to come, Mata says that United must maintain their focus.
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“Beating Liverpool at Anfield, being lucky to score two nice goals and feeling (the fans’) gratitude is something I will never forget,” the Spaniard wrote on his weekly blog.
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“But we must be cautious: these are just three points in the race to our goal.”
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Mata has been slow to earn manager Louis van Gaal’s trust and had not started consecutive Premier League games in over two months prior to Sunday’s match at Anfield.
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But he will hope that his performance proves a breakthrough, having opened the scoring with a neat 14th-minute finish before doubling his tally in the second half with a spectacular scissors kick.
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“This Sunday has been one of the happiest days of my career,” Mata said.
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“When you start playing football as a kid on muddy pitches, for something so simple and wonderful as having fun, you dream about becoming a footballer one day to be in a game like the one in Anfield.”
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Discussing his second goal, an acrobatic volley after a one-two with Angel di Maria, he added: “Many of you are asking me about the second goal and the truth is I don’t know very well how to explain it.
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“It’s something you just don’t think (about)… It’s more a resource you use when you understand it’s better to shoot the ball as it comes rather than trying to control it and keep the play.
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“Angel’s pass invited (me) to do so. It’s one of the best goals of my career for sure, among other things because it happened in such a massive game. And it helped us win.”