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Rooney’s last minute goal saves Van Gaal’s job

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Wayne Rooney’s last-gasp penalty might have saved Louis van Gaal’s job, the flagging squad could not have coped with a replay.

Rooney scored a penalty in stoppage time to give Manchester United a 1-0 win over Sheffield United in the third round of the FA Cup.

Manchester United started the game looking for a second consecutive win of 2016 having beaten Swansea City last week, whereas Sheffield United just wanted to emerge relatively unscathed, as they conceded three against Peterborough in their last match.

Had the England skipper not slammed home the injury-time penalty, the pressure would have intensified on Van Gaal. After the two steps forward of the win over Swansea and the goal-less draw against Chelsea, United were in danger of taking two steps back against a team in the third tier of English football.

The travelling fans serenaded the Dutchman with chants of ‘you’re getting sacked in the morning’ during the second half as United spluttered, wheezed and closed in on their eighth goal-less draw of the season.

Van Gaal looked powerless in the stands before Memphis Depay won a last-gasp spot-kick and Rooney emphatically converted it. It felt like a hollow victory but Van Gaal will take what he can get.

Bitter rivals Liverpool and United have much in common as they struggle to cope with exhausting schedules. Both have played 30 matches this season – more than any other Premier League teams – and both will play Europa League ties next month. Van Gaal revealed at his media conference on Friday that a number of his players, including Ashley Young, are in the ‘red zone’, the point of fatigue where a sportsman is most at risk of injury. The last thing United needed was a replay.

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