Louis van Gaal hit out at his players for almost allowing Roma to break his 100 per cent record as Manchester United manager.

Van Gaal made it two wins from two as United boss thanks to a 3-2 win over the Italian giants in the Colorado heat.

Unlike in their 7-0 thrashing of the Los Angeles Galaxy, Van Gaal’s men were slow off the mark and Roma wasted numerous opportunities to go ahead.

Wayne Rooney scored twice and Juan Mata also got on the scoresheet with a stunning goal, but Roma fought back in the second half with two strikes – the first of which, by Miralem Pjanic, came from 60 yards.

Van Gaal was annoyed with the way his team failed to close the game out after going 3-0 up, but he thinks the fact that the game took place in 30 degree heat, some 5,280 feet above sea level, did not help his players.

“I think we don’t play a good match,” Van Gaal said.

“All my good passers failed today. I think it was because of the height and the air.

“Mata, (Ander) Herrera and (Shinji) Kagawa these are the best passers (at the club), and everything went wrong.

“In the second half we forgot to keep the ball.

“When you are 3-0 ahead the only thing you have to do is keep the ball in possession and the opponent has to run and run and run.

“We forgot to do that. We brought Roma by ourselves back into the match so I am pleased we have won, but it was not good.”

Van Gaal was reluctant to single anyone out for praise, but he could not hide his admiration for Rooney’s performance.

“The pass of Rooney to Mata was unbelievable,” said Van Gaal, who withdrew the England striker, along with eight others at half-time.

Van Gaal was not so happy with Ben Amos for letting in Pjanic’s 60-yard shot.

Pjanic spotted Amos well off his line in the second half and punted a looping shot over the 24-year-old goalkeeper.

When asked whether he regarded the goal as a wonder strike by Pjanic or an error on the part of his substitute, Van Gaal said with a smile: “What do you think?

“I am nearly 63. When the ball is flying in the air for four seconds, I think I run 50 metres.”

Roma coach Rudi Garcia was stunned by Pjanic’s effort.

“It was a world-class goal,” he said.

“I am sure we will see it throughout (the) world.

“He probably had a training session yesterday with the Denver Broncos.”

Van Gaal and his squad were due to fly to Washington DC yesterday ahead of their next match against Inter.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.