Norwich vs. Manchester United: Score, Reaction from 2016 Premier League Match

Juan Mata's second-half goal pushed Manchester United to within a point of the Premier League top four after beating Norwich City 1-0 at Carrow Road on Saturday.

Mata profited from a defensive blunder from Sebastien Bassong with less than 20 minutes to play to increase the pressure on fourth-placed Manchester City and push Norwich closer to relegation.

The Canaries are now second off bottom, three points short of Newcastle United, having played a game less, but four behind Sunderland. Meanwhile, United are a point adrift of City, who play third-placed Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

Manager Louis van Gaal's plan to rest 18-year-old striker Marcus Rashford ahead of Tuesday's game at West Ham United backfired when Anthony Martial withdrew during the warm-up, per United.

Van Gaal had left out prolific teenager Rashford and defender Daley Blind altogether because of their recent run of games, per BT Sport:

The manager was originally hoping to rely on Wayne Rooney supporting Martial and Jesse Lingard:

Despite United's issues up front, which probably caught him off guard, Canaries boss Alex Neil had still opted to pack midfield ahead of lone frontman Cameron Jerome, per the club:

But it wasn't United's forward players who were in the thick of it early on. The Red Devils needed goalkeeper David De Gea to deny a point-blank header from Jerome with less than five minutes gone.

Not deterred, Norwich stayed on the front foot, regularly harrying United in possession. Rooney was robbed more than once as the visitors struggled to seize control early.

Meanwhile, Nathan Redmond's pace was causing the United defence a host of problems, with veteran Michael Carrick struggling to keep up in front of the back four at the base of midfield.

With less than five minutes to go in the half, Jerome raced clear, but his mazy run ended with a clumsy coming together with young United defender Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, who'd entered the fray following an injury to Matteo Darmian.

A damning statistic from WhoScored.com at the break indicated United's lack of impetus in attack:

Squawka went into more detail, revealing how little the away side had mustered in front of goal:

Meanwhile, Rob Dawson of the Manchester Evening News suggested United weren't approaching the game as though there was plenty at stake:

But United were bolder after the restart, with Mata, Ander Herrera and Antonio Valencia all at the forefront of things. Yet, things broke down too often whenever the ball was worked from out wide into central areas, with Rooney looking subdued.

Those issues let Norwich creep back into things, and Gary O'Neil soon thrashed over from inside the box. But just like United, the Canaries lacked quality where it mattered up top.

That proved costly once Bassong misjudged a header and let Rooney in behind. The England striker resisted pulling the trigger but did eventually work the ball to Mata, who finished smartly under goalkeeper John Ruddy.

As the league's official site showed, the Spanish playmaker just loves punishing this opposition:

Van Gaal responded to the goal by rolling down the shutters. He brought on defensive midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin for Lingard, while Neil hoped strikers Patrick Bamford, Dieumerci Mbokani and midfielder Graham Dorrans would revive his team in the final third.

But the impetus never came. Instead, it was United who saw out the game with very steady passing in midfield. Carrick and Mata were outstanding when it came to keeping the hosts frustrated and chasing shadows.

Post-Match Reaction

Content with the three points, Van Gaal is already looking ahead to the final stretch of the battle for the top four, per United:

As for Neil, he was disappointed his side didn't take their chances:

He also rued how Norwich conspired to gift United's goal:

Neil also confirmed worrying injury news regarding a key midfielder:

Ultimately, United did just enough in the second half to merit all three points, while Norwich paid a heavy price for an overly pragmatic approach with survival at stake.