Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal was left disappointed with his sides performance despite a 3-1 win over Burnley at Old Trafford.

Substitute Chris Smalling netted either side of a Danny Ings goal before Robin van Persie made sure of the points from the penalty spot late in the game.

Despite the scoreline the home side were made to work hard for the victory with Van Gaal quick to praise Sean Dyche’s team.  

He said: “The first half was not a good performance, Burnley were the better team. They pressed us. We could not beat the press and keep the ball. They were better and I want to give all the credit to Burnley.

“We scored from set plays and we train for that. I was very happy we were 2-1 at half-time because then I could reorganise my team and then the second half was a little bit better, not much but a little bit.”

But the Dutchman insisted that his side must perform better in their game against Preston North End in the FA Cup on Monday if they have any chance of securing any silverware this season.

“I said to the players when you win such matches mostly it means that we are having a good evening but we have to forget this match because it was not the best match and for the process it was not a good match,” said Van Gaal.

“We cannot have that in the next game because then we are out of the FA Cup because we were also lucky.”

United went into the game having scored at least once in their last 32 home matches against Burnley in the top flight, dating back to a 1-0 defeat in December 1921.

And they came the closest to opening the scoring after just five minutes when Paddy McNair shot from distance, only for this effort to be parried behind for a corner by Tom Heaton.

Before the corner could be taken Smalling replaced the injured Phil Jones — and the substitute made an instant impact.

Adnan Januzaj’s corner was flicked on by Radamel Falcao for Smalling to head into the corner of the net.

But Van Gaal’s side had only kept three clean sheets in their last 12 Premier League games prior to kickoff.

And the United defence was once again breached after 12 minutes when the impressive Ings dived to head home a Kieran Trippier cross from the right.

Burnley continued to cause their hosts problems with Ashley Barnes and Ings giving a nervy United defence a torrid evening.

However they failed to capitalise on their good periods of play and once again fell behind to a Smalling goal from a corner on the stroke of half-time.

From a short corner routine, Angel Di Maria exchanged passes with Wayne Rooney before swinging a cross into the far post for the England defender to nod home.

The Clarets continued to have good spells of possession after the break and could have levelled things up when the ball landed for Michael Kightly, whose shot took a deflection before flying over the crossbar.

And the miss would prove costly as moments later Di Maria was felled in the box by Scott Arfield.

Referee Kevin Friend had no option but to award the Reds their first penalty of the season in the Premier League which was converted by Van Persie to move his side back up two places and into third in league.

For Burnley it is now just one win in nine league games. But Despite the defeat Dyche remained positive after the game and believed his side were making good progress.  

“The quality of our play, particularly first half, was outstanding. Everyone in the stadium was probably scratching their heads at how we didn't come away with anything,” said Dyche.

"The details have hurt us a bit this season and they hurt us again. But there has to be a future in what you're doing though and there was in our last two performances."