Van Gaal rues Man United's poor finishing in EPL loss

Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has blamed his side's finishing for Manchester United's 0-1 loss against West Bromwich Albion at home in the English Premier League.

Dutch striker Robin van Persie saw his second-half penalty saved as United went down 0-1 at home to West Bromwich Albion.

It was United's third league game defeat in 14 years.

Van Gaal admitted that his side could not do enough to break a dogged visiting team's defence.

"The last three defeats have all been against sides who set themselves up to defend," he was quoted as saying guardian.co.uk on Saturday.

"We are creating chances all the time, but we have to improve our finishing. You cannot attack for the whole 90 minutes, have all the possession and chances, and then lose to a single free-kick. But that is what happened.

The free-kick took a deflection too. So you cannot say we were the lucky team today, but it is up to us to make more of our possibilities. We have made our run in a little bit more difficult than it was before," he added.

United are fourth in the standings with 65 points after 35 matches, 15 behind leaders Chelsea.