Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has praised his side after they beat Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Juan Mata's goal gave the Red Devils all three points despite an unconvincing performance at Old Trafford.

After the game, Van Gaal told MUTV: "It's always difficult to beat teams who are only defending. But in the second half we scored and that's important."

"We didn't have to defend much but you're always only one moment away and that came in first half with the lob over [David] De Gea.

"After the goal, we killed the game for the first time. We did it well and deserved to win."

The result lifted United up to sixth in the Premier League table.

Written by
Benjamin Topliss