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| Getty |
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal was delighted to see his side move within touching distance of the top four after "fantastic" results elsewhere in the Premier League.
The Red Devils secured a 1-0 win over Watford courtesy of a brilliant Juan Mata free-kick on Wednesday, while Liverpool's 3-0 thrashing of Manchester City, coupled with losses for Tottenham and Arsenal, means Van Gaal's men are now only outside of the Champions League places on goal difference.
Fourth-placed City have a game in hand to come against Newcastle but Van Gaal was delighted to see his charges close the gap nontheless and mount pressure on those around them in the table.
"It's fantastic," Van Gaal said.
"That's the strength of the Premier League. It's also nice as we lost at Sunderland and there was a lot of criticism at that time but the difference between teams is not that big.
"Everybody can lose to everybody."
United's response to suffering shock defeats against Sunderland and Midtjylland last month has been strong, picking up four straight wins in all competitions.
And Van Gaal says he was pleased to see his side continue that good run of form by beating Watford, though he was disappointed with some of the chances United conceded, particularly in the first half.
"I have to say, we gave the chances away," the Dutchman added.
"It was not that they were creating them. They were pressing us and we gave too many balls away.
"In the second half we did it, but Timothy [Fosu-Mensah] with his speed restored a lot of our errors."
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