Ander Herrera reveals Louis van Gaal gave him the confidence to take his first-ever penalty in the 3-1 win over Liverpool

The Spaniard duly stepped up to score

Sunday 13 September 2015 08:12 EDT

Ander Herrera and Louis van Gaal shake hands after the game (GETTY IMAGES)

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Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera has revealed that the penalty he scored against Liverpool in the 3-1 win on Saturday was the first of his career, after manager Louis van Gaal had given him confidence to step up and take one.

The 26-year-old scored in the 70th minute to make it 2-0 to the hosts.

"Never, never," Herrera told MUTV when asked if he had taken a penalty before.

"But the manager last season gave me the confidence. He told me I had the quality to take penalties and I have practiced every week.

"And, today, when I received the penalty, I thought the number-one taker isn’t on the pitch, I’m the second taker so I’m happy for that. But, next time, if the number-one taker is on the pitch I won’t be taking it.

Ander Herrera scores from the spot against Liverpool (GETTY IMAGES)

"I tried [to put some force behind it] because I knew in advance that [Simon] Mignolet is a big keeper, very tall and very elastic,” Herrera explained.

"I tried to hit it as hard as possible and it was a good goal but the most important thing was the win."

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