Louis lauds United effort

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal said the Christmas period had been a triumph after his squad beat Yeovil Town to reach the fourth round of the FA Cup.

While Sunday's 2-0 win against third-tier opponent which sat 65 places below United in the league standings was to be expected, van Gaal was pleased to achieve it, despite picking up two more injured defenders along the way.

Rafael da Silva suffered a possible fractured cheekbone, while Luke Shaw picked up an ankle problem. Both were substituted at halftime.

"I'm very happy that we have survived this festive period because I don't have a big squad because of all the injuries. I had a small squad," van Gaal said after the match.

"I could not change much and in spite of that we have regained ground on Chelsea by one point (in the Premier League) after the festive period and we are in the fourth round of the FA Cup. What more can a manager wish for?

"I have heard from my fantastic assistant manager (Ryan Giggs) that Man United has not won the FA Cup for 10 years and maybe we can do that this year. But it is a very long way."

Rafael left Yeovil's Huish Park stadium early to have his injury assessed and van Gaal praised the Brazilian for his commitment while sympathizing with his misfortune in getting injured.

"He played through (the pain) because the last few weeks he didn't play and now he is injured," said the manager. "He has a fantastic mentality, it's unbelievable."

Ander Herrera's superb 64th-minute strike from outside the penalty area put United ahead before a calm finish from substitute Angel di Maria sealed the win in the final minute of the match.

On Herrera's strike, van Gaal said: "It's his class. It's not his first goal from outside the box and it was a fantastic goal. There was a little bit of luck, but you need that and I was very happy with him." Agence France - Presse