United's £36m summer signing Anthony Martial turned from villain to hero against CSKA Moscow as Van Gaal's side clung on to second in Group B.
The young striker conceded a penalty which lead to CSKA's opening goal after 15 minutes despite David De Gea saving Roman Eremenko's spot kick.
But he made it five goals in his first nine United appearances with a fine header 25 minutes from time to earn a point for his side.
After the game, Van Gaal blasted his side's laboured performance, especially that of their sluggish first half.
He said: "I knew it would be a very difficult game.
"They had the present from Anthony Martial and then it is difficult when you are behind.
"We could not play at a high tempo, it was too slow in the first half.
"We had to improve at switching from side to side and we did that.
"We could have won but a draw was deserved."
Meanwhile, United midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin hailed Martial and insisted that the Red Devils did everything they could to get the win.
He said: "Anthony Martial didn’t let his head go down, which can happen after the penalty and he scored a great goal.
"Then we pushed on and gave everything and couldn’t get the second goal which was a shame."
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