Manchester United went a goal behind against West Ham after Cheikhou Kouyaté’s effort was deflected past David de Gea early in the second half.

In injury time, Daley Blind levelled the score, leading Louis van Gaal to praise his players’ spirit and determination.

I think we played very badly in the first half and we showed a lot of spirit in the second half, especially after the goal. We gave that goal away I think. Then we played football but you have to do it from the first minute. I have to say what a spirit my team showed after falling 1-0 behind. I have thanked my players for that. Especially when we had the ball, we didn’t play it along the floor but also when we lost the ball, then you have to win the first and the second balls much better than we did in the first half. Because they were playing long balls, we knew that in advance, but all of the second balls were for West Ham United and that is why we were under a lot of pressure. That is also why the players lost their confidence to play the ball along the floor when we were in possession.