Leicester vs. Manchester United: Reaction from Nigel Pearson and Louis Van Gaal

Manchester United suffered shock defeat to Leicester City on Sunday, capitulating in extreme fashion as a 3-1 lead slipped their grasp before succumbing 5-3 to the Foxes.    

The Red Devils always looked susceptible on the counter despite their thrilling offensive probing at times. Manager Louis van Gaal was clearly upset with his side's inability to protect possession, per Match of the Day's Mark Chapman:

At 3-1, Leicester City were given a contentious penalty for a Rafael foul that allowed them to worm their way back into the scoreline, a decision the Dutchman was unsure of, voicing his discontent: 

Tyler Blackett also gave away a late penalty for a foul inside his box, earning a red card for his troubles and giving Nigel Pearson's side the chance they needed to further increase their lead.

It was far from the only mistake committed by the visitors, however, and Van Gaal made sure to point out the shortcomings of his men, per Rob Harris of The Associated Press:

His dealings in the Premier League thus far have left United with five points from their first five games, a 4-0 beating of Queens Park Rangers last week being the side's only victory thus far.

United's defensive lapses have been made painfully obvious on a frequent basis, and Van Gaal was quoted by the Premier League's official Twitter account as almost being in a state of disbelief that the lead was let go so easily:

Pearson was in a near-opposite mode of disbelief, the happier brand, telling BBC Sport:

"

It was a very good performance from us and in the circumstances a very good win, to be behind 2-0 and respond quickly to get back into the game and at 3-1 down, again to score quickly. And to win from there, I think, is testament not only to the spirit of the group of players we have but the ability as well, and I think that's something that may surprise a few people, but thoroughly deserved and shows you that we're probably a bit better than people thought we were.

It's still early days and difficult to quantify exactly what we can and can't achieve, but certainly today's result and performance would suggest that we've still got areas to improve, but that on our day, we can be a difficult opponent.

"

Rob Dawson of the Manchester Evening News compiled more comments from the helmsman relating to his unfamiliarity with a loss of this variety, emphasising the need of being able to shut games out:

Sunday was Radamel Falcao's first start for Manchester United since completing his season-long loan move from Monaco, and the forward started his outing strongly with a sublime cross to set up Robin van Persie's opener.

The Colombian was withdrawn in the second half, but Van Gaal confirmed this was merely for preservation as he looks to acclimatise his striker to the Premier League since returning from a serious knee injury, per the official Manchester United Twitter account:

The boss also shed light on the injury that forced Jonny Evans off just 30 minutes into the fixture, adding further updates on other defensive players:

After things improved with the win over QPR, Manchester United will now go through another period of uncertainty, their jovial moods replaced by something a lot bleaker in the wake of this result.

Back-to-back home ties against West Ham and Everton promise to give the club an advantage in the weeks to come, but as the Red Devils' puzzle is still put together, their success is far from a certainty.