Ten Hag insists Man Utd ‘played very good’ in first half despite 3-0 drumming by Man City
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag tried to highlight the positives from his team’s 3-0 defeat to Manchester City in his post-match interview.
Erling Haaland opened the scoring in the 26th minute after Man Utd conceded a ‘soft’ penalty when Rasmus Hojlund pulled down Rodri in the box.
It was in the second half when Man Utd struggled most though. Haaland got his brace with a good header in the 49th minute, before providing a nice assist for Phil Foden, who scored a tap in with 10 minutes remaining.
Ten Hag said in his interview that the Red Devils played ‘very good’ in the first 45, despite going into the break 1-0 down. He also said the penalty decision changed the game.
“The first half we played very good, we defended very well. We had good breaks, good opportunities but we could have taken more benefit. Then the penalty changes the game.
“We had to go offensive in the second half, we wanted to be more compact. We know they would press us, go high and go direct.”
Ten Hag was asked on what he thought about the ‘soft’ penalty decision, but simply said he had ‘no comment.’
The Man Utd manager was then asked to pinpoint when the game started to get away from his team. “The second goal,” Ten Hag replied.
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“It came too early and then we’re making the wrong decisions. We spoke about not pressing the keepers when it was not possible.
“The first half I think things went the way we wanted. The second half, at 2-0, you have to go against them out of shape and when you don’t they will find the spare man. We have to be better organised.”
Man Utd are set to face Newcastle in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday, and Ten Hag said that his team will regroup ahead of the match.
“We are down, but we played a good game first half. We will be disappointed and annoyed, but tomorrow we will be there.”
Ten Hag also faced criticism for his substitutions. The Dutchman brought Mason Mount on for Sofyan Amrabat at half time, which did not have the desired affect on his team’s performance.
He also brought on Alejandro Garnacho, Sergio Reguilon, Antony and Anthony Martial, who again, failed to have any real impact.
“You try to get more offensive and you see we worked very hard and brought in new energy, but it was impossible at that point, 3-0 down with five minutes left to play.”
Ten Hag will hope that Man Utd can bounce back from the derby defeat when they face Newcastle, before travelling to Fulham for their next Premier League game.
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