Wayne Rooney and Louis van Gaal took consolation in defeat after Manchester United 's performance in the 1-0 loss at Chelsea . Injury-depleted United slipped to defeat despite enjoying the better of much of the play against the Premier League leaders , who are now 11 points clear of the third-placed Red Devils . Yet the visitors ' performance at Stamford Bridge on Saturday has given Rooney and Van Gaal cause for optimism . United ace Wayne Rooney was happy with his side 's display at Stamford Bridge despite the negative result . Louis van Gaal labelled his side 's performance against rivals Chelsea as their best display of the season . ' I thought it was excellent , we dominated from start to finish , ' Rooney told MUTV . 'We created some good chances , but unfortunately did n't take any of them . ' I felt that if we got a goal , even with five minutes to go , we would have gone on to win . 'We can take great confidence from this result as I 've rarely seen a team come to Stamford Bridge and dominate so much , all that was missing was a goal . 'On another day we could have scored two or three goals , but it was n't to be . 'We have to move on now and look forward to facing Everton next weekend . ' Van Gaal , who deployed Rooney in midfield after injuries to Michael Carrick , among others , was pleased with the chances created , but rued missing them . 'We were always in the half of the opponent , ' the Dutchman said . 'In spite of the compact defence and the defensive organisation of Chelsea , we have created in the second half more chances . 'That is an unbelievable performance , I think . But you need to score . 'Normally we are more effective . I think we played a fantastic match , but we lost . ' Eden Hazard , pictured with Chelsea team-mate Didier Drogba , scored the only goal of the game . Van Gaal was forced into deploying Rooney in midfield due to the absence of Michael Carrick and Daley Blind .
Wayne Rooney insists his side can take 'great confidence ' from defeat . Louis van Gaal echoed his captain 's thoughts by hailing display . Eden Hazard scored winner during match in which United dominated .