Louis van Gaal has given his Manchester United players time off following Saturday’s victory over Swansea City, which was a first win in nine games.

The 2-1 victory lifted United to 33 points, three behind Tottenham Hotspur in the fourth Champions League berth. It is also the first time Van Gaal has avoided defeat to the Welsh club since he took over as manager at the start of last season.

Van Gaal praised his players’ performance given the pressure of their recent winless run and following the busy festive programme and allowed them to take Sunday and the start of the week off.

After recharging their batteries, Van Gaal’s squad will return to training before Saturday’s visit of Sheffield United in the FA Cup third round.

Juan Mata hopes the victory over Swansea will start a positive run of results. “Luckily, I feel that we have started 2016 with energy and that our negative streak – much longer than it should be – has been left behind,” he wrote on his blog. “Finally, we did it on Saturday against Swansea. You could see how tough it was, but I think we deserved the three points. I hope this is going to be the start of a good run of results. It depends on us.

“They were a difficult opponent with good players who have made things tough for us in the last few seasons, but this time we were able to win so we start 2016 in the best possible way.

“The Christmas period is gone now after three games in seven days and we have a full week ahead to prepare for the FA Cup game against Sheffield United. It’s a good time to take a break and remain calm after such a busy calendar.”

(Guardian service)