Erik ten Hag admits Manchester United were left disappointed after failing to top their Europa League group, despite a 1-0 win over Real Sociedad on Thursday.
A triumph by two or more goals would have seen United advance as Group E winners by virtue of a superior head-to-head record over La Real.
Alejandro Garnacho s 17th-minute goal gave United hope, but that proved to be their only shot on target during a lacklustre display at the Reale Arena.
Ten Hag, whose side subsequently face a play-off against one of the teams knocked out of the Champions League, told BT Sport: You do not always get what you deserve.
Of course, we are disappointed we didn t score two goals because that s what we needed. We want always to be number one, and when we aren t, we are disappointed.
Real Sociedad 0-1 Manchester United: Man Utd s 1-0 win in Spain is only good enough to seal 2nd spot in the group, behind their opponents. They needed one more goal to finish top
— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst)
Ten Hag took some positives out the game, highlighting the display of Garnacho after the 18-year-old became United s youngest non-English goalscorer in major European competition, taking the record from club legend George Best.
Today, we win, and I am happy with that, and some other things like the performance of Alejandro Garnacho, the Dutchman added.
We had problems there [on the wing]. Antony was out, and Jadon Sancho was not available. I really hope he can keep the process going. He was a threat. If he can keep this going, I am really happy.
