Man Utd win at Southampton for Luke Shaw, says Juan Mata
Monday 21 September 2015 13:54, UK
Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata has dedicated Sunday's victory at Southampton to injured team-mate Luke Shaw.
Louis van Gaal's side hit back after conceding an early goal to win 3-2 at St Mary's thanks to a Anthony Martial double and a special goal from Mata after a 44-pass move.
The game was played against the back-drop of a serious injury to Shaw - who moved to Old Trafford from the Saints last summer.
The 20-year-old suffered a double-leg break in the Champions League defeat at PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday night and it remains to be seen how long the England international will be sidelined for.
"In short, it was an important and very special win," Mata wrote on his official blog.
"Everybody knows that last Tuesday was a bad day for us. Because of the defeat but, especially, because of Luke Shaw's terribly serious injury. He was very unlucky and suffered a double fracture of his right leg; all of us felt his pain.
"That's why we wanted to dedicate a victory to him as soon as possible, to make him feel happy, at least momentarily, and it came this very Sunday.
"I'm sure he will be back stronger, and he will work hard to be with us soon. He was having a great start this season, helping us a lot. All our support to you, my friend, you know we are here with you."
The Spaniard, whose compatriot David de Gea made a number of saves to help United to the win, was pleased to follow up the disappointment in Eindhoven with a successful return to domestic competition - with the Red Devils closing the gap on neighbours City to two points.
"I'm very happy for a victory that takes the team to the second position, allowing us to finish the week in a much better way than we started it," he added.
"After the first game in the Champions League group stage. We knew how important it was to win at St Mary's after some of our main rivals had dropped points on Saturday, and we were able to make it.
"[Graziano] Pelle scored again for Southampton and they kept trying, but David was there to make amazing saves, like many other times in the last few years, and so we won."
