With Van Gaal fielding in an attacking squad, Manchester United looked very much like their usual selves when they were under Sir Alex Ferguson. Van Gaal's United dominated the game from the kick off to the final whistle.
Van Gaal played 4 defenders with Chris Smalling and Marcos Rojo the only specialist defenders, while Young and Valencia both played left and right back respectively. Smalling looked like a player that had learned his lesson well from the sent off against City 4 weeks ago. He was attacking with passion and a sense of purpose and excelled in leading the United's defense.
On attack, Mata and Di Maria played the support to both Rooney and Van Persie. The game started with an intensity that was obvious: United wants to win. In the 2nd minute, there was already a penalty appeal for hand ball being turn down. Rooney tested the goalkeeper just after 5 minutes. After just 14 minutes, Di Maria sustained a hamstring injury but instead of a disrupted rhythm, United looked even better as Herrera came on.
Chris Smalling helped United to take the lead, thanks to some defensive errors by Hull as well as the goal line technology. After that, United grew in confidence and the passing was so fluid, fast and accurate, with some great display by Mata. Herrera had a shot deflected wide while Smalling came close to scoring another goal for United before Van Persie wasted his chance against McGregor.
Then, United continued to press on with Mata crossing to Herrera and he headed to Van Persie's direction. While Hull's Davies should had an opportunity to clear the ball, he was too slow to react and paid the price as Van Persie passed it to Rooney and the United's captain made it 2-0.
After the 1st half, Hull showed some intention to get back into the game in the early of the second half but after that, there was nothing much from them. Manchester United dominated the game with great passing and were quick. There was even a moment when Van Persie nearly scored a goal identical to the one we seen during the World Cup, although it was already an offside. But the Dutchman made sure he got his name on the scoring sheet as well, when he rifled a brilliant shot into the roof of the net after he turned two of Hull's defenders just on the edge of the penalty box.
There was more attacking, more brilliant passes from United and as Falcao came on for Van Persie, I was expecting another goal from Falcao. He almost made it 4-0 for United but Dawson blocked on the line. It was a wasted chance....I felt that Mata could have scored on his own but instead he passed it to Falcao. Nevertheless, it was a great display by Manchester United. If this continue, it won't be long before we see the Red Devils challenging for the top spot in the league table.
Sounds like a pretty good game.
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