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Cape Town - Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal was pleased with his side's performance in their 2-1 FA Cup quarter-final replay victory over West Ham United on Wednesday.
Second-half strikes from Marcus Rashford and Maroune Fellaini ended the Hammers' dream of finishing the season on a high note, in what was their last FA Cup fixture at Upton Park ahead of their move to the Olympic Stadium next season.
The former Netherlands mentor praised his team's fighting spirit as they held on despite the home side pulling one back through James Tomkins in the 80th minute.
"You cannot deny that my team has a lot of fighting spirit," Van Gaal said after the match.
"When you come to West Ham, who have not lost at home since August and have beaten every top club, and we controlled the game.
"I cannot say that when we lose 3-0. I'm very happy that in spite of that defeat we didn't lose the spirit this evening."
Goalkeeper David De Gea was in fine form, making double saves to deny Andy Carroll and Cheikhou Kouyate late in the second half.
"When they scored it made us very nervous," added Van Gaal. "At the end De Gea saved us, but over the whole match I think we deserved it."
