Man U to appoint Mourinho this month

Anthony Martial’s deft 39th-minute finish got them back on level terms – but they were second-best after the break and were undone when De Gea could only help defender Lamine Kone’s powerful downward header into his own net.

Van Gaal has been under significant pressure lately.

But it appears likely to miss out on the Champions League for the second time in three campaigns after a 2-1 loss to relegation-threatened Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Sunday, a result that left the Red Devils six points off fourth-placed Manchester City.

While Van Gaal has had to shoulder the majority of the blame from media and fans, Rooney said the players have simply underperformed.

Their success will intensify the uncertainty over Van Gaal’s future, with speculation mounting that former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho is set to replace the beleaguered Dutchman at the season’s end.

Van Gaal has revealed that he had to convince the United hierarchy that signing the veteran midfielder aged 31 would be a good move for the club. It is still possible but it’s very hard.

They travel to Danish side FC Midtjylland in the last 32 of the competition on Thursday and Van Gaal added: “You can say OK, that’s the other way to qualify”.

Van Gaal confirmed that Schweinsteiger will require more than two weeks to recover and that the player has been granted leave.

“Today it was very disappointing because we needed to win this game because of the big gap between the top four. It’s down to us, we’re players and we have to perform”, states Rooney.

I said we had to win this match because we have to be in the race for the top four positions in the league, and then you have to win these kind of matches.

“Manchester United has bought him even though he is now 31”.

“The game is changing but we have one of the best youth systems around”.