Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal says he has 'deep frustration' after Diego Costa scored late on to earn a 1-1 draw for Chelsea.
United were ahead of almost 30 minutes but Costa netted past David de Gea in injury time to make what was a good United performance feel like a defeat, according to Juan Mata.
Van Gaal annoyed that his side could not reward themselves
Jesse Lingard scored a superb goal to give United a deserved lead, taking the ball down before turning and finishing past Thibaut Courtois. "I feel we didn't reward ourselves with a victory because we were the better team," van Gaal told BBC Sport.
United are now six points off top four and the pressure remains strongly on van Gaal's back, but he was pleased with the majority of United's game at Stamford Bridge. "Until the last quarter we played very well," said the Dutchman, United "could have scored more goals but you have to control the game better," which the Reds failed to do in the final 25 minutes after taking the lead.
Van Gaal was clearly frustrated at his team's inability to close the game out, with many chances wasted and the majority of players simply hoofing the ball upfield instead of taking it into the corner to try and keep the lead until full-time,
Reds had to keep hold of ball, says van Gaal
Conceding late, says van Gaal, wasn't down to "a lack of concentration" and instead was because United were "not being composed when defending." Despite bringing on forward Memphis Depay, van Gaal didn't want his team to look for a second because "when we have the ball we have to keep the ball" and "we don't have to score."
Counter-attacking led to United conceding late on, with Chelsea intercepting a Memphis pass and surging forward. Van Gaal, who will come under further pressure with United now six points off the top four, says he is feeling "deep frustration because [United] were the better team" and United "had the better chances but we didn't win."