Chris Smalling: 'Louis van Gaal was shocked by our poor performance'

Manchester United defender Chris Smalling has revealed that manager Louis van Gaal was "shocked" by how poorly his team played in the first half of their Premier League match against Burnley.

The Red Devils eventually secured a 3-1 triumph over Sean Dyche's side at Old Trafford last night, but the team have been criticised for their display.

Smalling scored two goals, one of which came 22 seconds after he was brought on from the bench to replace injured Phil Jones.

"I think the manager was shocked at half time," ESPN quotes Smalling as saying. "As players, we knew that it wasn't good enough and we had to stand up and fight in the second half.

"I think it was a strange game in that the first half was probably the worst we've had all season, we were lucky to go into the break with a lead. In the second half we fought and played a lot better, but we were lucky to get away with that first-half performance."

United are currently third in the Premier League table.