• Premier League

Van Gaal bemoans 'unbelievable' injury saga

Luke Shaw has an ankle injury, according to Louis van Gaal © Getty Images

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Louis van Gaal says Manchester United's persistent injury trouble has been "unbelievable" but was ultimately left pleased by his side's 2-1 victory against Arsenal on Saturday.

Wayne Rooney's chip and an own goal from Kieran Gibbs secured United's first Premier League away win of the season, but their triumph was marred when Luke Shaw limped off in the 17th minute.

It is the latest setback to United's defensive injury problems after it emerged earlier this week that Daley Blind may face a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

Van Gaal said: "Luke Shaw has an ankle problem. It is not the same injury as what he had in advance of the game. We have to wait and see. It is unbelievable the injuries we have had."

However, the Dutchman was suitably happy with his team's overall performance. United held on for much of the game as Arsenal failed to make any of their chances count, and had to defend their lead in the dying minutes after Olivier Giroud found the net in added time.

He added: "It is the first away victory and the players are very excited but it is just one victory. We have to confirm that with further victories and then we can say we have the spirit and can start looking upstairs and not downstairs.

"I think it is a fantastic victory at the right moment. We have a lot of injuries but despite of that we win a difficult away match. Arsenal are a good attacking team. At the end I can laugh but you can imagine if they score one of four or five chances in the first half it is a different game.

"They have had five big chances yes, but we have also had possibilities at the end of the first half. Not so big but we could also score. In the second part of the first half we were coming back.

"We don't have the confidence in the first half and I said we needed to build up the ball and because of that we got chances. It is no surprise for me that we scored in the second half.

"I was not pleased with the ball possession of our team but after that we improved and in the second half we did very well."

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