Louis van Gaal plays blame game after frustrating Manchester United stalemate

Louis van Gaal vented at the officials after a frustrating derby all round

LOUIS VAN GAAL accused Manchester City of lacking ambition during the stalemate at Old Trafford and insisted his side were unlucky not to have had a penalty.

 

Ander Herrera was refused a spot-kick by referee Mark Clattenburg after he tangled with Raheem Sterling early in the second half, and Van Gaal: "I have seen it on the video that clearly he doesn't touch the ball but the legs of Herrera but that luck we don't have in this season.

"And it is not the first time that I see that it go like that way."

However a lack of cutting edge from his side left the Dutchman frustrated.

"You have seen that Manchester United has attacked. They [City] have the right to play compact and they have done it. It makes it difficult the way they played but we have to deal with it," he said.

Manuel Pellegrini appeared no less frustrated with his City side, but maintained that going top of the table was the most important achievement.

"For me it is not the way to do it but if you cannot find the ball you have to do it. It is not our normal way but one point here is not bad. We continue at the top of the table," he said.

Van Gaal also hit out at questions over Wayne Rooney's lack of form

Ander Herrera felt sure Raheem Sterling had tripped him up

"We lost too many balls in the second half but we came here for the three points and tried to score but as a team we need to defend and we can when we need to."

It was another difficult game for Wayne Rooney and the United manager hinted at building impatience when snapping at a question about his captain's current form.

Van Gaal said: "I have to talk every week about Rooney. Why? I don't give any answer any more about Wayne Rooney because I am sick of it."