David Moyes thanks Fans after win over Aston Villa with Mata on score sheet

A defiant David Moyes insisted he won’t hide from his critics after some Manchester United fans paid for a plane to fly above Old Trafford calling his sacking.

Moyes thanked those inside the ground for their vociferous backing during United’s 4-1 victory over Aston Villa and is convinced the majority of United supporters are still behind him.

While the plane displayed a banner reading “Wrong One - Moyes Out” in the opening minutes, Moyes had walked out before either team on his way to the dugout and received a loud ovation from the United public.

And he vowed to carry on making himself visible in troubled times, explaining: “I just wanted everybody to know that I am the manager of the club and you know where I am. I stand on the edge of the pitch every week. That’s my job.”

The home fans responded to Ashley Westwood’s opening goal for Villa with chants of “United” before Wayne Rooney, with two goals, Juan Mata and Javier Hernandez scored in a comeback for Moyes’ side.

And the manager added: “I have found the support inside Old Trafford terrific and if ever there was a show of support for their football club and for their team, it was today.”

Moyes said the plane protest had little impact on him, claiming: “I was focused on the game. My be all and end all was to make sure we as a team and a club won the game.”

Mata scored his first goal for United since his club record 37.1 million-pound move from Chelsea in January and Moyes praised the Spaniard.

He said: “He has deserved it. His play has been very good. I think he has made a difference to the team.

One of the reasons we bought him because he has got a goalscoring record, he has always scored goals. 

Wherever he plays for the team, he has made a difference.”

Meanwhile, striker Wayne Rooney was happy his side could register a win for both manager Moyes and the club's supporters.

Rooney told BT Sport: "Today was a big game for us after midweek. We had to respond and it was difficult. 

 

We had a slow start, going behind, but we came through it and got the win and deserved it. It was a good win for us.

"We know the support the manager has got from the players and from the fans and that's what matters. The support he got from the fans was incredible again today.''

United's attention now turns to the Champions League meeting with Bayern Munich at Old Trafford on Tuesday, a match Rooney is looking forward to. He said: "It's a massive game, the quarterfinals of the Champions League against the champions. It's going to be a good game and hopefully we'll get a good result.''

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Mourinho: Chelsea have hardest run-in

LONDON -- Jose Mourinho says he is not surprised by Liverpool’s sensational progress in this title race, because Brendan Rodgers’ side have had the “perfect” conditions to take advantage.The Chelsea manager also pointed to participation in European football as the reason why his side’s run-in remains the most difficult, despite a sequence against notionally lesser sides.

“When you have six days a week to prepare a match, six days a week to train, maybe twice a day, you have conditions to improve that nobody else has,” Mourinho said of Liverpool.

“At the same time, players have no accumulation of fatigue. You can clearly see some of their players are not paying the consequences of over-time and accumulation.

"You see freshness, you see players with a certain age they don’t need to rest matches because they rest during the week, so the season for them is a perfect season to do what they are doing.”

Mourinho meanwhile insists that Chelsea themselves have a less than perfect run-in, due to the complications of continental football. Other than that, six of their seven remaining fixtures come against teams currently in the bottom half of the table.

“[It’s] the most difficult, because we play Champions League, they [Liverpool and City] don’t,” Mourinho said. “We have to play matches with two or three days in between, we have to change our focus from the Premier League to the Champions League, go back to the Premier League, go back to the Champions League, play two big matches against Paris [Saint-Germain].

"Liverpool, they keep going in their perfect season... we have more matches than them, we have to play Champions League. We have no time to prepare matches like they have. I think it’s a big advantage; an advantage that City has just now, an advantage Liverpool has since the beginning of season.”

Meanwhile, Mourinho has refused to rule Arsenal out of the title race despite last week’s 6-0 win at Stamford Bridge.

“Mathematically, no. Mathematically, it’s open for them. It’s more difficult because they are a few points behind the other three teams but obviously it's possible,” he added.

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Lady GaGa Celebrates Birthday in Sheer Outfit in New York

Lady GaGa turned heads when she went to the Roseland Ballroom during her birthday on Friday, March 28. The "Edge of Glory" singer, who is having seven shows at the closing venue, went out of a taxi wearing a nude-colored bodysuit which makes her look like naked. The sheer clothing is featured with some roses which are strategically placed to cover her private parts.

The Mother Monster completed her outfit with a sheer red headscarf and pink platforms with red ribbons tied around her ankles. She held a bouquet of white rose while waving to cheering fans and posing for photographers.

According to The Associated Press, the 28-year-old performer carried out an energetic performance for the crowd that night, which included her boyfriend Taylor Kinney and Fun.'s Nate Ruess. She at first performed "Born This Way" on piano and continued the show with other tracks such as "Monster", "Bad Romance", "Just Dance", "Poker Face", "Applause" and "G.U.Y.".

"Thank you so much for spending my birthday with me," she told her fans. "When I woke up this morning I was so happy. I couldn't wait to get here tonight. I have so many friends here ... so many fans I've grown up with for six whole years, seven whole years," she added between songs. "Thanks for making this the best birthday ever." GaGa's final performance at the venue will take place on April 7.

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Neurosurgeons Have Successfully Implanted the First 3-D Printed Skull Into a Woman's Head

Over the past few years, doctors and researchers have had medical breakthroughs, thanks to 3-D printed lung splints, prosthetics, heart membranes and even human tissue. Now the transformative technology may have had its most incredible success yet: Neurosurgeons in the Netherlands announced on Tuesday that they have been able to implant a 3-D printed skull for the first time.

The subject was a 22-year-old woman who had a rare bone disease, which made her skull grow abnormally thick. Her condition was threatening her vision and posing a neurological risk, so doctors had to come up with a creative solution to provide her with a new skull. Although they had previously used 3-D printing to replace skull fragments, this was the first time that nearly the whole skull has been printed.

"Implants used to be made by hand in the operating theatre using a sort of cement which was far from ideal," said Dr. Bon Verweij, who led the operations at University Medical Centre Utrecht. "Using 3D printing we can make one to the exact size. This not only has great cosmetic advantages, but patients' brain function often recovers better than using the old method."

The 23-hour operation actually took place three months ago, but researchers waited to make an announcement in case the patient's body rejected her new skull. She has since made full recovery.

"The woman has her eyesight back. She is back to work and it is nearly impossible to see she was ever operated on," Verweij said.

If you want to learn more about UMC Utrecht's groundbreaking work, you can watch the university's video below; it's in Dutch, but the doctors walk you through the preparation stages and the actual operation itself. It's a fascinating look at 3-D printing's live-saving potential — just be ready to see some brain matter on display.

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Pellegrini: Arsenal are still challengers

MANCHESTER -- Manuel Pellegrini believes Arsenal are still in the title race but sees Saturday’s clash as a six-pointer that could allow his side to open up a 12-point gap on Arsene Wenger’s side.

Manchester City go to the Emirates Stadium three points ahead of Arsenal but with two games in hand on their rivals and with manager Pellegrini calculating that victory in London, plus in their two rearranged fixtures, would enable them to open up a commanding lead over Wenger’s team.

He said: "It is a big game because it is against a team that is also fighting for the title. If we win on Saturday we can be 12 points ahead of Arsenal if we win the two games that we have in hand. It is an important difference.

“It is a match of six points but it is not the last match and not the match that will decide the title.”

Arsenal suffered their joint-heaviest defeat of Wenger’s 17-year reign when they lost 6-0 to Chelsea on Saturday and then dropped two more points when Swansea scored a 90-minute equaliser on Tuesday.

And Pellegrini added: “Maybe they did not have a good week but they continue being a very good team. They play at home, they have very good players and I am sure that we will need to do a very good game if we want to win.”

But while Arsenal are now behind leaders Chelsea, Liverpool and City, Pellegrini believes that others will slip up in the title run-in, offering them a chance to come back.

He explained: “All the teams will drop points also from now until the end of the season so I continue thinking that Arsenal have a lot of chances to fight for the title. Four teams have the same options to win the title.”

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