Van Gaal praises Spurs' 27-yr-old following Tottenham's 3-0 win

 They held their own against the Premier League title chasers until deep into the second half when quick-fire
goals from Dele Alli, Alderweireld and Erik Lamela resigned them to defeat, and the Red Devils boss was full of praise for Tottenham’s goalscoring centre-back.
“You don’t clear your head and I think that is strongly expressed, because the second goal is a set-play and our best header [Chris Smalling], or one of our best headers, lost his duel and it was a fantastic header from [Toby] Alderweireld. But it is happening and it cannot happen. That is also what I said to him,” he told the club’s official website.
Although Van Gaal praised the quality of Alderweireld’s finish for Spurs’ second, he was clearly unhappy with his side’s inability to shut up shop after conceding the opening goal just four minutes earlier, pointing the blame towards Chris Smalling.

Smalling failed to win a single tackle or aerial duel at White Hart Lane and Marcos Rojo also hardly covered himself in glory, as the Argentinian barely even got off the ground as Alderweireld rose highest to double Spurs’ lead.
United will be looking to bounce back when they face West Ham United in the FA Cup in midweek but now find themselves facing an uphill battle to qualify for the Champions League, with Man City now enjoying a four-point gap with just six games left to play.

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