Juan Mata has spoken of the agony of conceding a late, late leveller to drop two points in the Premier League encounter with Arsenal at Old Trafford
Mata opened the scoring for Jose Mourinho’s side but a last-gasp headed goal from Gunners striker Olivier Giroud handed Arsene Wenger’s side a point in the 1-1 draw on Saturday.
Spain ace Mata, who signed at the Theatre of Dreams from Chelsea, said: “That frustration after the final whistle is not new, unfortunately. Against Arsenal we played yet another game where I’ve felt that we did everything, or almost everything, to win and two points slipped away.
“The whole team did a great effort, we had chances, we were solid defensively to keep such a good team like Arsenal away from our box, we were one goal ahead in the 89th minute…and we got a draw.
“It could have been a great weekend and it leaves a bad taste, but we must be positive. The way we played, the motivation, ambition and competitiveness that we showed, or the team’s personality are enough reasons to believe that sooner or later we are going to get the reward that we deserved.
“Sometimes the scores are difficult to take, but this draw is not going to stop us in our goal, which is to keep improving. There are still many games to play.”
The most immediate games to play for United are in the Europa League at Old Trafford on Thursday against Feyenoord, and then again at home to West Ham in the Premier League.
And Mata retains a buoyant mood ahead of the matches. He added:
“This new week we have two more games at Old Trafford and we want to transmit again to our fans all those things I’m talking about. It’s really a privilege to play for a crowd with so much passion who supports the team no matter what, both at home and away.”