Louis van Gaal would not rule out an 11th-hour tilt at the title after watching his Manchester United team blow Aston Villa apart at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Ander Herrera bagged his sixth and seventh goals of the season and Wayne Rooney scored a stunning volley as United recorded a 3-1 win which moved them above Manchester City into third place.

United’s Champions League hopes looked to be in jeopardy a few weeks ago but, after five straight wins, Van Gaal’s team are now eight points ahead of Liverpool and are just one point behind second-placed Arsenal.

Fourth was the target for Van Gaal at the start of the season but he insists leaders Chelsea are not out of reach even though United have just seven matches left.

“We have to play against the first three in the league (Chelsea, City and Arsenal) and normally when you play against better teams with more points it’s not done yet,” the United manager said.

“We are looking up and we have to win every week but anything is possible.

“We have made a big gap to fifth and we can suffer a defeat.

“Liverpool is now eight points behind us and we are more than eight points behind Chelsea. We probably won’t be champions but we can give pressure.”

Van Gaal was so happy with Herrera’s first that he planted a kiss on the young midfielder’s head in the dressing room at half-time.

“Ander has a very good kicking technique and he should only be more composed,” Van Gaal said.

“I said to him ‘you have to control the ball before you shoot’.

“I said that to him again in yesterday’s training session and then I kissed him at half-time because he had controlled the ball for the first time in his life and then he shot!”