Van Gaal: We Gave It Away

Louis van Gaal says Manchester United threw three points away after seeing his side slip to a 5-3 defeat by Leicester City.

The Reds twice led by two goals, but an astonishing fightback by the Foxes in the second half condemned United to a scarcely-believable defeat.

“You never expect that when you're 3-1 ahead and you are two goals ahead for the second time,” van Gaal declared. “You have to kill the game and keep possession but we could not do that. We gave it away with penalties, and you cannot win a game when you do that.

“I think we created a lot of chances and we made superb goals. But a game lasts 90 minutes and you have to do that for 90 minutes, not 60 minutes.”

The game turned when referee Mark Clattenburg awarded a penalty against Rafael for tangling with Jamie Vardy inside the area. And although the Brazilian appeared to be fouled by the Leicester forward in the build-up, van Gaal refused to criticise the penalty decision.

“At that time it was still 3-2, there was not a problem. You can kill the game, you can keep possession, and we kept possession in the first 10 minutes and made a beautiful goal. But then you have to kill the game and we didn't do that, so you can never say 'It's not a penalty'."