Juan Mata - Player of the Week

What's the Mata?

Juan Mata was the hero as Manchester United (4th) beat Liverpool (5th) 2-1 at Anfield. The gap between the two teams is now five points, with eight matches of the season left to play. Juan Mata was the hero for United and Steven Gerrard the villain for Liverpool. Mata, who played as what Louis van Gaal calls a 'false right-winger', scored the opening goal in the 14th minute. Ander Herrera's excellent pass found Mata in space, and he hit the ball across Simon Mignolet, the Liverpool goalkeeper, and into the far corner. Manchester Utd were playing some of their best football of the season and were unlucky to be only 1-0 in front at the interval.

"In the first half we played very, very well." Louis van Gaal - Manchester Utd manager.

What happened in the second half?

Liverpool made a change at the break, bringing on captain Gerrard for his last ever game against Manchester Utd, before he moves to the United States in the summer. But after only 38 seconds of the second half, Gerrard was given a red card for a foul on Herrera. It was one of the fastest red cards in Premier League history. With Liverpool down to 10 men, Man Utd took control and took a 2-0 lead after 59 minutes when Mata scored his second of the game and one of the goals of the season. Mata played a lovely one-two with Angel Di Maria and scored with an acrobatic 'scissor' kick, which flew past Mignolet in the Liverpool goal. Liverpool scored a consolation goal, through Daniel Sturridge, 10 minutes later, but it was United that finished stronger and even missed a penalty when Wayne Rooney's spot kick was well saved by Mignolet.

"I think it was my best game in a United shirt. It's probably the biggest game in English football, so to score two goals is great for me." Juan Mata.

What do we know about Juan Mata?

Juan Manuel Mata Garcia was born on 28 April 1988 and brought up in Oviedo, a small city in Asturias in the north of Spain. If you translate his name directly into English it is 'Johnny Kills' and this became his nickname when he arrived in England to play for Chelsea. Before moving to the UK, Mata played youth football for his local team, Real Oviedo, and also Real Madrid B (RM Castilla), where he played 39 times. In 2007, Mata moved to Valencia, which is where he made his name. Mata helped Valencia to a regular place in the Champions League, two third-place finishes in La Liga, and also scored one of the goals to help Valencia win the Spanish Cup in 2008. He also became a regular member of the Spanish National squad at this time. In the summer of 2011, Chelsea paid £23.5 million to take him to Stamford Bridge. In only two and a half seasons with the London club, Mata won the Champions League, Europa League and FA Cup. He was also voted Chelsea's Player of the Year for both 2012 and 2013. In January 2014, Mata moved to Manchester United in a deal worth £37.1 million. 

“Chelsea is a top club and I have many friends there but you can't turn down the chance to join Manchester United.” Juan Mata in January 2014.

What has Juan Mata won with Spain?

Juan Mata, despite being only 26 years old, has already won most of the big prizes in football. In addition to the European competitions he won with Chelsea, Mata was also part of the Spanish squads that won the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and the 2012 European Championships in Poland and Ukraine. In the former, he was more of a squad member, he only played in one match, when he came on as a substitute in a group game against Honduras. But in the Europpean Championships, he played a much bigger role, and scored one of the goals in the final as Spain beat Italy 4-0. Mata also helped Spain win the under-21 European Championships in 2011 and was named the tournament's Golden Player. One trophy he hasn't won yet is the Premier League, which is something he hopes to do in the near future.

"It was one of the greatest days of my life, like a dream come true. I couldn't control my emotions." Juan Mata speaking about winning the World Cup in 2010.

Does Mata only like football?

Juan Mata has plenty of interests outside of football. Two of these interests are photography and writing. Mata regularly posts to his Instagram account, where he has 1.5 million followers, and amongst the photos of players are plenty of artistic shots of the Manchester skyline and British countryside. For the last two years, Mata has also been writing a weekly blog. It's called One Hour Behind and he writes about his experiences as a professional footballer at Chelsea and United, but also on other topics such as films, other sports and trips back home to Spain. If you want to read his latest blog post, which is about the Liverpool - Man Utd game, you can find it here.

"The second goal was one of the best goals of my career for sure, among other things because it happened in such a massive game. And it helped us win."  An extract from Juan Mata's blog - One hour Behind.

What's the fastest red card in Premier League history?

Steven Gerrard was sent off only 38 seconds after coming onto the pitch as a second half substitute, but it's not the fastest ever red card in football and not the fastest red card in Premier League history. Here are three red cards that were even faster:

1. Keith Gillespie - Reading v Sheffield United (Premier League - 2007) 12 seconds. The Sheffield United midfielder, who had previously played for Manchester Utd and Newcastle Utd, came on as a subsitute, there was a throw-in and he hit an opponent with an elbow and was given an immediate red card. He received the red card without the ball entering the pitch, so perhaps it could be counted as 0 seconds!
2. Giuseppe Lorenzo - Bologna v Parma (Italian Serie A - 1990) 10 seconds. This is the record for the fastest ever red card in professional football. The Bologna midfielder was sent off just 10 seconds into the match for striking an opponent in the face.
3. Lee Todd - Cross Park Farm Celtic v Taunton East Reach Wanderers (English amateur football) 2 seconds. At the start of the match the referee, who was standing directly behind Lee Todd, blew his whistle. Todd was frightened by the noise and swore at the referee. The referee immediately gave him a red card for foul and abusive language! 

What did you understand?

Did you know......?

• In 2012, Juan Mata along with Santi Cazorla (Arsenal) and Michu (Swansea City) bought shares in Real Oviedo to save it from extinction.
• Mata loves studying and is currently studying degrees in Marketing and Sports Science.
• Mata's dad was also a professional footballer. He played as a striker for Burgos in the 1980s and 1990s.
• Mata has a park in Oviedo, Spain named after him. It's called 'Juan Mata Park' and is next to Real Oviedo's stadium.
• He loves travelling, when he was younger he used to go backpacking around Spain in his free time.