Louis Van Gaal Slams Stupid Robin Van Persie, Reveals Pre-Chelsea Clasico Lesson

Despite scoring a stoppage-time equaliser against Chelsea on Sunday, Robin van Persie has been criticised by his manager Louis van Gaal for his delirious celebration after finding the net.

With the Red Devils heading for defeat at Old Trafford, Dutchman Van Persie smashed home a 94th-minute equaliser to make it 1-1 after Thibaut Courtois could only parry a Marouane Fellaini header.

There was inevitable bedlam as the home side claimed an important point, and the United players crowded in on Van Persie, per the Manchester Evening News' Samuel Luckhurst, before the captain whipped his shirt off as he celebrated in front of the crowd:

Referee Phil Dowd was forced to issue Van Persie with a yellow card, and Van Gaal was not impressed with his skipper's conduct, per David McDonnell in the Mirror:

"He did a stupid reaction after the goal. You can be excited, but you don’t have to pull your shirt off, because then you have a yellow card. It’s not so smart."

Alex Livesey/Getty Images

It was only Van Persie's third league goal of the season, and the former Arsenal man has been largely below his best in 2014-15 so far.

Despite the celebration, Van Gaal will no doubt be delighted his side were able to claim a crucial point. Van Persie and United will have been boosted after an improved performance against the Blues, per Dutch football writer Elko Born:

While Didier Drogba's header early in the second half looked to have given Chelsea the win, the Old Trafford outfit did deserve something from the game, and the late nature of Van Persie's equaliser will no doubt provide the team with a morale boost.

Van Gaal also revealed that all but one of his matchday squad watched Real Madrid beat Barcelona 3-1 in El Clasico on Saturday night. The former Netherlands manager used the Liga match as a coaching opportunity, per Neil Ashton in the Daily Mail: 

"

We went to the Lowry, we had a screen so I could watch the second half and 17 players of 18 were there. I have never experienced that before. We have a lot of Spaniards! I won’t tell you which one wasn’t there. It was the quality of the game—Real Madrid vs. Barcelona. 

I told the players, 'you have seen what they have done because for example, Barcelona under Gerard Martino pressed from the front, but under Luis Enrique it is from behind.' Real Madrid pressed from behind, they drop in and they were very compact. After Real scored the second, the match was over because Barcelona don’t keep compact. That was the deadly.

"

Indeed, having gone 1-0 down from an early Neymar strike, goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, Pepe and Karim Benzema saw Real turn things around at the Bernabeu, meaning Los Blancos now sit just one point behind their fierce rivals in La Liga.

While United are currently a long way behind the two Spanish giants in terms of consistent quality, sitting eighth in the Premier League, the Chelsea performance suggests progress is being made.

Sunday sees United travel to Manchester City for another testing encounter and an opportunity for Van Gaal's side to prove they can, once again, compete with the best sides in the English top flight.