The Spain international enjoyed a fine day at the office after captaining the Red Devils for the first time on Wednesday, before scoring the crucial winner against the Hornets
Juan Mata has hailed scoring the winner as captain to help Manchester United beat Watford 1-0 at Old Trafford on Wednesday evening as the “perfect day.”
The Spaniard wore the armband for the very first time and stepped up to the plate to curl home a late free-kick as the Red Devils downed Watford to keep up their hopes of finishing inside the top four.
United moved level on points with bitter rivals Manchester City in the Premier League table, after their victory over Watford, also moving ten points behind leaders Leicester City.
And Mata was delighted at the end of the game, suggesting that firing home the winner while wearing the captain's armband was the "perfect day".
"It was very, very important to win today," Mata told United's official club website.
"It's not the prettiest game we've played this season but we needed the points, especially because our rivals didn't win their games. It was massive, this victory, for us and that's why we celebrated like we did.
"It was very good [to be captain]. I'm very proud and very honoured to wear it [the armband]. It was the perfect day for me - winning, scoring, three massive points and being captain. I'm too happy today!"
Mata took over set-piece duties from Memphis Depay after the Dutchman had an earlier free-kick effort hit the wall, and the Spaniard made no mistake as he bent a crisp shot past Heurelho Gomes after 83 minutes.
The former Chelsea midfielder acknowledged that United's late triumph over Watford could be viewed as an “ugly win”, but indicated that the side were thankful for the three points and the improved position in the table.
"Because of the side [the right-hand part of the pitch], I had more angle than him that time and I tried to put it to the goalkeeper's side," added Mata. "I think he [Heurelho Gomes] couldn't see the ball and, luckily, it went in.
"You can call it however you want, maybe it's an ugly win but it's a win in our race and we are still going. We will never give up. We are closer now to fourth, third and second and will try to win again on Sunday.
"The Premier League is not easy and it's never finished until the last game. We have to fight until the end, we won a massive game against Arsenal last weekend and won today again. We're on a good run while our rivals are having problems. We have to take advantage of that and I think we did really well in winning."
- Goal