Van Gaal: We Were Lucky

Louis van Gaal believes Manchester United were "lucky" to come away with all three points, following his team's 2-1 win over Southampton.

Two goals from Robin van Persie handed United a fifth straight Barclays Premier League win, despite the home side's dominance for long periods of the game at St. Mary's.

Van Gaal said he was "very pleased" to see his side's good run of results continue, but insisted that plenty of improvements can be made ahead of Sunday's clash with Liverpool.

“We lost the ball too easily in the first half because we didn’t have very good positional play," he said. "The only chances Southampton created were when we lost the ball, and that was not good. We needed confidence on the ball, which we didn’t have, and I said something about that at half-time. I think we were better in the second half but Southampton (still) played better than us.

“Our first goal was a gift and the second was made easier because I saw the goalkeeper coming out of his goal. We were very lucky. I didn’t see the confidence that I saw on the training ground earlier this week. We trained very well this week, and I did not see it on the match day - that is the most important time to show yourself.

"We didn’t give a lot away in the second half, maybe four chances, but Southampton were the better team. We were the lucky team. But I think it is a good signal (that we won)."