Van Gaal shocked by Rooney's backheel

The Dutch coach was pleased that Man Utd returned to winning ways, and he was particularly impressed with the captain's strike that sealed the 2-1 result.

In the last eight games of 2015, Man Utd failed to win all eight, making the team's worst run since January 1990, and sparking rumors about the future of manager Louis van Gaal.

But the situation seems to have improved for Van Gaal and his team, because in the first match of the new year, they beat Swansea 2-1."It's great when you can play according to the plan like Man Utd did today. We won by playing risky football under a lot of pressure," Van Gaal said after the match.

Van Gaal has relieved some pressure thanks to Man Utd's victory yesterday. Photo: Reuters.

"I hope this is a great starting point for the team this year," he stressed.

Against Swansea yesterday, Van Gaal deployed Ashley Young, who had previously played on the wing, as an attacking midfielder in a 3-5-2 formation, with Phil Jones, Blind and Smalling forming a back three. The change paid off as Young set up Martial for the second-half opener.

Swansea, who had beaten Man Utd in all three of their previous encounters, equalised through Sigurdsson. But Rooney, with an improvised backheel, sealed the win for Man Utd 13 minutes from time.

Van Gaal also did not hide his surprise at his student's goal: "He scored a great goal, with a left heel strike. It is very difficult to imagine a goal like that."

Rooney scored a backheel goal that Van Gaal described as "unbelievable". Photo: EPA.

Thanks to yesterday's 2-1 victory, Man Utd maintained a nine-point gap with Arsenal, while narrowing the gap to the top four to two points. Van Gaal thus felt more relieved from the pressure from the criticism aimed at him.

"We are still close to the top of the table and the gap is narrowing. That's football. The season lasts eight months, not just one month. We feel much more comfortable with where we are now," he said.

According to VNE