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Juan Mata: Manchester United back to playing attractive football

Andrew Yates / Reuters

Midfielder Juan Mata believes Manchester United is playing attractive, flowing football once more, following his side's 1-1 draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

The Spanish midfielder has heard the cries of "boring" raining down from the stands at Old Trafford, as the Red Devils have been accused of playing too slow and without enough excitement. But Mata says a string of positive results in 2016 has helped his team find its form and, as a result, the players are buzzing once more, too.

"When you win and when you play good football, confidence grows," Mata told Sky Sports after the match. "I think we're showing now that we can play a high level of football and can play attractive, offensive football. That's what we're trying to do, that's what the fans want to see, so we try our best in every game."

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While Mata serves praise to the play of his teammates, United continues to drop points. A 1-1 draw against Chelsea is often an acceptable enough result, but with the Blues enduring a trying season and the Red Devils out of a Champions League berth, a late equaliser made the result feel more like a loss.

"I think the last three or four games we've played really well," Mata said. "We played very good football. Coming here to Chelsea isn't easy, but particularly in the first 30 minutes and in the second half we played well.

"But Chelsea were always pushing and they scored a late goal and we didn't have any time to get another goal. It's frustrating."

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