What Gary Neville said about Juan Mata after 3-2 Man Utd win was absolutely spot on

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By Dov Rawson

Published Mar 6, 2018

Mata only played 23 minutes...

Manchester United came from 2-0 down to beat Crystal Palace 3-2 in a thrilling Monday night Premier League fixture.Nemanja Matic scored a stunning stoppage time winner after Chris Smalling and Romelu Lukaku had pulled United level at Selhurst Park.Jose Mourinho deserves plenty of credit for his substitutions - Juan Mata and Marcus Rashford changed the game from the bench.“Juan Mata was finding spaces inside," said Mourinho after the dramatic win. "Marcus Rashford was open on the left and brought their right-back wide to give us more space in the middle.“To come back from 2-0 down away from home against a team that is desperate for points, it gives us a great feeling.”Rashford is yet to make a Premier League start in 2018 whilst Mata has been vying for game time with a host of world class attackers.The arrival of Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal has cut down their playing time at Old Trafford but Gary Neville was eager to heap praise on the Spanish playmaker after the full-time whistle.“I have to say I thought Juan Mata made a massive difference for United,” Neville said on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football.“I won’t say I’ve always been his biggest fan in terms of… I always thought United’s wide players or the No 10s should be people who can get from box-to-box quite quickly.“But what United have now with Martial, Rashford, Lukaku, Lingard and Sanchez are players who can get box to box."What they have not got necessarily are people who can glue it together. He [Mata] is the one who can slow it down, who can connect things and can actually link things.

“I thought he made a massive difference in composing United in the final third. He was the one who controlled the ball in the box and made the right decisions."

Neville was absolutely spot on.