Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has claimed that supporters left Old Trafford early on Saturday in order to escape traffic.

The Red Devils laboured their way to a 1-0 victory over Sheffield United in the third round of the FA Cup.

A large number of home fans made their way out of the stadium before Wayne Rooney scored a penalty in the 93rd minute to send the team into the next phase of the competition.

However, Van Gaal believes that the exodus was not because of his team's performance on the pitch.

"[The fans] are thinking that we could not score, and maybe because of the traffic they decide to leave a few minutes earlier," Van Gaal said in Monday's press conference.

"There are many reasons to leave the stadium. When I was looking at matches to analyse our opponents, then I would leave the stadium five minutes before.

"You never know the reason. You can be very negative, but we are in the next round, won two matches out of a very bad period."

United have only won two of their last 10 games in all competitions.