Juan Mata Had to Explain He Was Cup-Tied to Manchester United Fans Blaming Moyes

David Moyes led Manchester United to a 3-0 victory over Olympiakos in Wednesday night's Champions League clash, ensuring that the Red Devils booked a place in the quarter-finals, but the Scot was already being blamed before the match for not selecting Juan Mata.

Leaving out the Spaniard, of course, was not unreasonable given that he was cup-tied and therefore wholly ineligible to play—something that he had to explain to fans himself online during the evening:

"

I'm cup tied so won't be able to play tonight... But i will be in Old Trafford supporting my teammates! We can do it! @ManUtd

— Juan Mata García (@juanmata8) March 19, 2014"

But some supporters really had been getting angry about Moyes not fielding Mata. Jamie Sanderson, writing for the Metro, recorded some sample tweets:

Credit: Twitter

Perhaps reaching the last eight of Europe's elite competition will buy the Manchester United boss a little more time and patience.