MANCHESTER -- Louis van Gaal said he wanted to "kiss" Memphis Depay after his fellow Dutchman took Manchester United close to realising their dream of returning to the Champions League group stage.
Depay scored twice and set up Marouane Fellaini for a stoppage-time third as United beat Club Brugge 3-1 in their playoff round first leg.
And while Van Gaal was annoyed that the £25 million signing from PSV Eindhoven conceded possession unnecessarily, he was happier with his first United goals.
"I want to kiss him tonight," he said in a news conference. "When you score two goals and the assist also, normally in the world you are the hero. But for a trainer-coach, it's different.
"It is the same questions that everyone asked about Adnan Januzaj after the match against Aston Villa. Then I said something about the unnecessary ball losses of Adnan, but also [Wayne] Rooney and Memphis. But there are more players who have lost the ball. These aspects are also important."
Depay had finished as the top scorer in the Dutch league last season when he struck 22 times for PSV and Van Gaal was happy he gave the United crowd a glimpse of his talent.
"I'm very happy for him because I have said it is a matter of time and it was," he added. "Hopefully he shall continue to score but it is difficult for him, he is 21 and he has only played two seasons for PSV.
"I have confidence in him. He showed what he can do tonight."
Depay said he was pleased to open his account with United.
"I ended last season with a lot of goals," Depay said. "You come to a big club and you have to do a good job again. It is a nice feeling to score two goals at Old Trafford."
However, the player was irritated that he missed a chance to complete a hat trick and Van Gaal said he admired the attitude of a player who always wants more.
"I think that makes also a difference," the manager said. "He's never satisfied. I like that. You have to know what you are doing and also what you can do and then your desire to improve is higher. And that's Memphis."
Substitute Fellaini came off the bench to score on his first appearance of the season and Van Gaal said his header was part of a plan.
"We have practised that before when we need him," he explained. "He has that quality because he has done it a lot of times with me."
Van Gaal believes United answered their critics by scoring three times after only recording three shots on target in their opening two games of the season.
"Last week we had a lot of criticism that we never created chances and had never a shot on goal, but today was a lot of chances and we could have finished the game much earlier," he said. "But we were not lucky."
Captain Rooney's wait for his first goal of the season continues but he had an overhead kick cleared off the line and Van Gaal said: "He had a shot on target, so I'm happy."