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Irate fans turn on United after loss
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MANCHESTER United fans turned on their own team after a Europa League defeat to Danish minnow Midtjylland, chanting obscenities that under-pressure manager Louis van Gaal admitted were justified.
United’s travelling support sang their displeasure as the 1-2 loss on Thursday evening dented the team’s best hope of returning to the Champions League next season.
Midtjylland was Danish champion last year but had won just one of its previous 10 fixtures and not played a competitive match since December.
Van Gaal, whose team trails fourth-placed Manchester City by six points in the Premier League, had played up United’s “positive” start to the year after it came through its first four games of 2016 undefeated.
But United has now recorded just two wins in six since it beat Liverpool on January 17, increasing the pressure on its manager once again.
“The fans can criticize. They are disappointed, like we are,” the Dutchman said when told what supporters had been singing. “They can do because when you see the second half maybe they are right. We have to improve and then the fans shall support us again.”
With keeper David de Gea injuring a knee during warm-up to join a lengthy casualty list that includes captain Wayne Rooney, Van Gaal cited injuries as a factor in the defeat. “It is difficult to cope with such a list of injured players,” he said.
But there was rare joy for former United stalwart Gary Neville when his Valencia side crushed Rapid Vienna 6-0. Elsewhere, Tottenham Hotspur drew 1-1 at Fiorentina while Liverpool was held 0-0 at Augsburg.
Tottenham’s Nacer Chadli scored a priceless away goal from the penalty spot before Fiorentina levelled through Federico Bernardeschi. Villarreal overcame Napoli 1-0 in Spain.
Sevilla’s grip on the trophy showed no sign of loosening as its bid for a third straight triumph began with a 3-0 victory at home to Norway’s Molde.
Lukasz Piszczek and Marco Reus were on target for Borussia Dortmund which recorded a 2-0 win at home to Porto.
Olympique Marseille suffered disappointment as it was beaten 0-1 at home by Athletic Bilbao while Bayer Leverkusen notched an impressive 1-0 win at Portuguese giant Sporting Lisbon.
St Etienne beat Basel 3-2, Anderlecht downed Olympiakos Piraeus 1-0, Galatasaray and Lazio drew 1-1 while Shakhtar Donetsk and Schalke 04 shared a goalless draw.
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