Van Gaal's View On Chelsea Draw

Louis van Gaal was admittedly disappointed by Manchester United's 1-1 draw at Chelsea, after seeing his side lead for half-an-hour before conceding a Diego Costa goal in added time, yet the manager was encouraged by his team's performance at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Here are the main points from the manager's post-match interview with Sky Sports...

On United's performance and the result: "I think we played a superb game until the last quarter. We did not keep the ball and we did not play the attack in the way I think we have to do. We were unlucky that we got the goal against us, it was unbelievable. We did not reward ourselves."

On the reasons behind Costa’s late goal: "It is because of Chelsea pushing with long balls and more aggression, but nevertheless you have to keep the ball and we have to be composed when we defend. We have to make sure we are not kicking the ball away without any meaning. There were a lot of times when I think we could have controlled the ball and played the ball. Also, we could have scored after the first goal, I think, but we do not reward ourselves. When you play such a game against a fantastic team like Chelsea, you have to reward yourself."

On his own mood after the result: "It is deep frustration for me because we were the better team. Again, we did not win and we had the chances but we did not win."

On the things United could have done better: "The defensive organisation, you have to be composed. When you can control the ball, you have to control the ball and then you can play it out, not just kicking the ball away and then the next attack of Chelsea is there. I don’t think that all the fouls were free-kicks but this referee gave them a lot of free-kicks at the end of the game. The time was also already over the six minutes and he let the corner kick play on. Then we had a free pitch for us, a lot of space, and then he whistled. He did that in the first half as well, maybe you remember that, so I think you cannot do that. I don’t think that was fair to two teams."

On United’s aims and ambitions this season: "When your aim is to be third, second or first then you need to win because the gap is already big and the gap is now bigger than before and that is not good. I know that we have to play a very nasty away duel and match against Chelsea. Of course, I shall say to my players that it was a fantastic performance until the last quarter, I have said that already, but we have to reward ourselves because it is not the first time this has overcome us."