Louis van Gaal has expressed his belief that Manchester United were hard done by in this evening's 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Southampton.

The visitors picked up their first victory over the Red Devils in 27 years to leapfrog their opponents into third place in the Premier League table.

United probed away throughout the contest, although their failure to get a single shot away at goal proved costly when Dusan Tadic scored the only goal of the game on 70 minutes.

"We didn't create so many chances, despite dominating the game," Van Gaal told Sky Sports News. "We gave them a chance in the first minute but dominated after that. We had three big chances, but it was not enough.

"Southampton were well organised, defended well but they came for a draw, I believe, and they go away with a win, which is disappointing. Mata had three chances, but you cannot change the result. We gave the goal away. Football is game from mistakes."

United, who are now fourth in the league table, return to action next weekend with a trip to face Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road.