Juan Mata could have ended Manchester United’s unbeaten run in all competitions this season when he scored an own goal against Stoke City in the Premier League. However, but a Wayne Rooney free kick saved the former Chelsea man and the Red Devils from further disappointment in the dying minutes of the match.
Despite that, the former Valencia playmaker is convinced that his team is more than ready to fight and bring the League and FA Cup trophies to the Theater of Dreams this season..
Juan is ready for a special week
Manchester United travel to the KCOM Stadium to face Hull City in the return leg of the League Cup this Thursday and Juan Mata, in his personal weekly blog, stated that the team is “starting a special week, a different one”. That is because there will be “two games but none of them is a Premier League fixture” as “we have the EFL Cup first, and then the FA Cup. Two different challenges that we face with the same goal in our minds: winning both of them”.
The week starts with the League Cup
Mata was on the score sheet in the first leg when Manchester United hosted the tigers at Old Trafford and the Spaniard thinks that “On Thursday we will visit Hull City in the second leg of the EFL semifinals” and “our intention is to finish the job that we started at Old Trafford, where we got a 2-0 win that was really important”.
Juan is aware that their job is not done yet as they will be facing “a team giving everything they’ve got to be in the final” so “it would be great to move forward and secure a place in Wembley’s final at the end of February” as the Spanish international recalls the memories of “the first trophy of the season in the early weeks”.
FA Cup fixture follows the EFL
Manchester United won the FA Cup trophy under Louis van Gaal last season, in a final match where Mata scored a crucial equalizer against Crystal Palace as he thinks that “in the FA Cup, as the defending champions, we also want to go through” as United will be hosting Wigan Athletic at the Theater of Dreams next Sunday”.
The Red Devils played against the Latics in the pre-season and Juan is “sure they will come to Old Trafford hoping to surprise us” so the team “must play with intensity and remain focused from the very beginning in order to win this game and then wait for the next draw”.