Ashley Young has lavished praise on Adnan Januzaj, who was brought off the bench to help Manchester United to a 2-0 win over Sunderland at Old Trafford.
Van Gaal raised eyebrows when he chose to bring off Angel di Maria at half-time in favour of Januzaj, with the scores locked at 0-0.
Wayne Rooney put Manchester United 1-0 up from the penalty spot in the 66th minute before Januzaj played him in for a second in the 84th minute.
Young feels that Januzaj did exactly what Van Gaal asked of him and delighted at the 20-year-old's star turn.
"He was terrific", Young told MUTV.
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"As a winger, you want to get the ball and run at your full-back.
"He did exactly that, did exactly what the boss asked him to do at half-time."
All eyes will now be on Van Gaal's team selection when Manchester United play Newcastle United at St. James' Park on Wednesday evening, with Januzaj hoping he has done enough to force his way into the manager's starting eleven.
Januzaj was linked with leaving Manchester United on loan in the January transfer window, but Van Gaal demanded he stayed put and blocked any move.
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