Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag has said that his side were made to pay for missed opportunities during Saturday's 2-0 loss to West Ham United in the Premier League.

The Red Devils had chances to make the breakthrough in the capital, with the best of those falling to Alejandro Garnacho, but he was unable to find a route past Hammers goalkeeper Alphonse Areola.

The 20-time English champions had been arguably the more productive side from an attacking point until the 72nd minute, when Jarrod Bowen sent West Ham into the lead.

Mohammed Kudus then made it 2-0 in the 78th minute, with the Hammers securing all three points to move into sixth position in the Premier League table.

Ten Hag has said that his side should have taken the lead at the London Stadium and were made to pay for failing to find the back of the net.

"I think it was a decent 72 minutes where we didn't take our chances. We should've gone in the lead but we didn't and then it was one moment of switching off," Ten Hag told BBC Sport.

"I think he (Garnacho) is confident, he's in good form at the moment. He was one on one with the keeper and he could've taken it but we didn't.

"We tried. West Ham weren't running behind us for a long period in the game and then they got the goal and then of course you encourage the team. From that they were very aggressive defending the box and from that moment it's difficult to create a chance.

"At this moment we are not top, but we have seen last week against the top of this league we were head-to-head. We didn't score, we had the best opportunities of the game.

"There we defended very well for 90 minutes, that has to be always our standard like what we did there. You have to bring that to every game on the pitch."

Ten Hag also insisted that his "under-performing" side would improve once their injury situation changes.

"In 2023, we won a cup, we played the FA Cup final, we were third in the league. There were highlights but we are over-performing, but in this moment we are under-performing," he added.

"There are reasons for it, we have many injuries, so the team will be better if the injured ones return. We have to be calm, stick together, stick to the plan, we have to do it together."

The defeat is Man United's 13th in all competitions this season, and they will be bidding to avoid a 14th loss of the campaign when they host Aston Villa on Boxing Day. body check tags ::