Manchester United striker Robin van Persie has come to the defence of under-fire boss David Moyes, but also criticised some team-mates for "sometimes occupying the spaces I want to play in", according to the Guardian.

Van Persie told the Dutch TV channel NOS: "Our fellow players are sometimes occupying the spaces I want to play in. And when I see that it makes it difficult for me to come to those spaces as well. So that forces me to adjust my runs, based on the position of my fellow players. And unfortunately, they're often playing in my zones. I think that's a shame."

However the Dutchman - who missed a good opportunity for an away goal towards the end of the game - did come to the defence of his manager.

"He's working hard at it, and so are we. Sometimes we play well, but not all the time. We don't have luck on our side. It's easy to point the finger at someone, but I'm not like that. We have to do better ourselves," he added.

And of his missed chance, the former Arsenal star said: "I rushed that shot. That's a shame because I don't get a lot of chances so when you get one, you have to score."

United crashed to a 2-0 defeat against the unfancied Greek champions, to condemn Moyes to a first defeat in Europe as United boss.

"That's the worst we have played in Europe, that's for sure," admitted RvP.

"It was a really poor performance. We never really got going from the start and we didn't deserve anything because of the way we played. We never really got to grips with things and to a man you could hardly pick anybody out. We just didn't perform."

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