Manchester United have defeated Norwich City 1-0 at Carrow Road this afternoon to remain on track for a top-four finish in the Premier League.

The Red Devils, who scored the only goal 72 minutes in through Juan Mata, now find themselves just one point behind Manchester City in the table after playing the same number of games as their rivals.

Norwich struggled to get going all match in the East Anglian sunshine, and now find themselves two points from safety in 19th place with time fast running out in the battle for survival.

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The home side felt that they should have had an early penalty when Robbie Brady was tugged back inside the box as he tried to meet a corner, but referee Craig Pawson correctly waved play on.

A cagey opening 45 minutes actually began in a lively manner, as Norwich quickly raced out of the blocks and really should have opened the scoring when Cameron Jerome met a cross unmarked five yards out.

Jerome, a scorer in City's famous 2-1 win at Old Trafford earlier in the campaign, sent his attempt straight down the middle for David de Gea to easily collect.

United, already without rested duo Marcus Rashford and Daley Blind, saw their pre-match preparations disrupted further when Anthony Martial pulled up with an injury problem.

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Matters were made worse a quarter of the way through in East Anglia when Matteo Darmian was stretchered off the field following an innocuous-looking challenge with Ivo Pinto.

The Red Devils slowly started to grow into the stop-start half, creating their only clear-cut chance 30 minutes in when Chris Smalling headed over the bar after out-jumping his marker just a few yards out.

Jesse Lingard also saw his curled shot easily collected by John Ruddy, in what proved to be one of only two on-target attempts of a tame first half at Carrow Road, despite both teams being in desperate need of a win.

Louis van Gaal, celebrating his 100th game in charge of the visitors, clearly got his message across at the break as his team started the second half the better and could have found a breakthrough early on.

Mata sent a fine ball over the top for Ander Herrera to volley into the side-netting, but top four-chasing United were unable to build on that positive start.

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The game failed to truly burst into life as the hour mark approached, with Gary O'Neil's wayward effort from a poor Cameron Borthwick-Jackson clearance summing up the mood of the game.

Alex Neil turned to five-goal top scorer Dieumerci Mbokani in an attempt to make a telling difference, and the substitute striker very nearly did just that when meeting a cross which he headed into the hands of De Gea.

It was the Red Devils who managed to muster some quality in attack to make the breakthrough, though, with a simple punt over the top allowing Wayne Rooney to race in behind for the first time.

A chance to shoot passed the England skipper by, but he showed the nerve to lay the ball off for Mata alongside him who simply blasted the ball home from a few yards out, making it five in five against the Canaries for him.

Morgan Schneiderlin blew a big chance late on to add a second for United, but it mattered little in the end as the division's second-lowest scorers - without a goal in four now - failed to find a leveller.