Louis Van Gaal unhappy at Chris Smalling's "stupid" second yellow card

Chris Smalling gets sent off after his rash tackle on James Milner

Manchester United manager Louis Van Gaal has expressed his disappointment in his defender Chris Smalling who got himself sent off in the first half during his side’s 1-0 derby loss against Manchester City.

The 24-year-old was booked for a needless block of Joe Hart’s goal-kick and then was given his marching orders after hacking down James Milner just outside of his own 18-yard-area. With a man down and 52 minutes of play remaining, the Red Devils replaced Adnan Janujaz and brought in Michael Carrick as a makeshift defender. Marcus Rojo also departed with a dislocated shoulder as he was replaced by Paddy McNair.

Smalling should have controlled his aggression

Even with 10 men, Van Gaal’s side showed great character in the second half but the numbers game caught on in the 63rd minute after Sergio Aguero netted the only goal of the game. United went close on two occasions, but Angel Di Maria and Robin Van Persie couldn’t steal a point for the visitors.

And the former Netherlands coach was upset over his defender’s decision making, stating that he should have handled things differently.

“In a derby you have to be careful - the second yellow card is a stupid yellow card," Van Gaal told BBC Sport.

"The sending-off is not one of those things. As a player you have to control your aggression.

"I didn't see the first yellow but with the second, you know you already have a yellow, so have to handle it differently. I said that to the players," he added.

United are as good as Chelsea and City

This result means that United have 13 points from 10 games now and are in 10th place in the table. But that doesn’t concern Van Gaal as he is assured that his team is as good as Chelsea and City.

"The red card had an influence on the game but, despite being 10 men against 11, we played better in the second half than the first because of willpower of this team," added Van Gaal.

"We are very close. You saw it against Chelsea and now against Manchester City. They are the two best clubs in this league and the difference is zero I think.

"When you see what we did with 10 men you can be proud as a coach," he concluded.

United play Crystal Palace at home next Saturday.