Van Gaal calls for ruthlessness after Spurs stalemate - PREMIER LEAGUE

  

Van Gaal calls for ruthlessness after Spurs stalemate

Man Utd manager hails first-half display but rues missed chances in draw at White Hart Lane

  

Louis van Gaal rued poor finishing from Manchester United as his side had to settle for a goalless draw at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

United dominated the first half at White Hart Lane but a combination of a lack of composure in front of goal and fine saves from Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris ensured they were unable to break the deadlock.

Although Spurs raised their game after the break, neither side could find the elusive opening goal and claimed a point apiece from their final Barclays Premier League match of the year.

United are now unbeaten in nine matches and will head into their New Year's Day clash at Stoke City in third place but manager Van Gaal was left to ponder what might have been.

"You need a little fortune, because Tottenham Hotspur could also score in the second half," he said. "When you play against a top-six club at White Hart Lane and you create six to eight chances, and open chances, then you have to finish that. But you don't reward yourself, then normally the opponent wins.

"You could see in the second half it was not football anymore, it was a struggle for life. Tottenham won the second balls and that's why they were more dominating than Manchester in the second half.

"They create three chances, but we also created three chances; [Juan] Mata, [Robin] Van Persie and [Radamel] Falcao."

Van Gaal believes United's inability to beat Aston Villa in their previous away game, as well as at Spurs, will make it very difficult for them to win the BPL title.

"I said in the dressing room, when you cannot win these types of matches when you are the better team, against Aston Villa and now against Tottenham Hotspur, then it's very difficult to be champions at the end of the season," he added.

Spurs head coach Mauricio Pochettino was happy to take a point from the match, which extends his side’s unbeaten run to five matches in all competitions.

Lloris was regularly called into action during a first half that United controlled, but, in an improved second-half showing, Spurs could have won it late on through Ryan Mason, who blasted over the bar from close range.

"The second half was good and we were better than them but after 90 minutes it's a fair result," Pochettino told tottenhamhotspur.com.

"We showed that we were solid. The most important thing is the feeling from today. It's a good point. We produced a good performance.

"Our fitness levels are very good. We have a lot of games ahead and the next one [against Chelsea on Thursday] is another tough one."

Spurs welcome Barclays Premier League leaders Chelsea to White Hart Lane in the late kick-off on New Year's Day, while Manchester United play the first top flight match of 2015 earlier in the day against Stoke City at 1245GMT.