Following a crucial win over Aston Villa in their Premier League match, Manchester United manager Erik Ten Hag praised young striker Rasmus Hojlund, who scored his debut Premier League goal after 14 games and expressed how he believed in his capabilities.
Rasmus Hojlund could not have found a much more perfect time to score his first Premier League goal as his winner helped Manchester United bounce back from two down and secure a 3-2 win over Aston Villa at Old Trafford on Tuesday night.
“I have had several talks with him, I pointed out that he scored for Denmark a lot, that he scored in the Champions League, so believe in it and it will come,” Erik said as quoted by Sky Sports.
“Of course, when strikers do not score it is a problem but he has a strong character and is always determined. He has a big personality. And the goal will come. Finally, it did,” he added.
On Jim Ratcliffe, the CEO of INEOS Group getting the 25 per cent of stake in the club, the manager said, “I think it is positive for the club that they are stepping in. They have a lot of experience in sports at the highest level – F1, a cycling team, football clubs. They can only help us to get our targets. They want to work with us and we want to work with them.”
On his team’s performance, the manager said that the first half was solid but defending was sloppy but the team kept believing.
“In the first half, we played solid. A bit sloppy to give two goals from set plays. What did he change? “We changed slightly the pressing but already in the first half we created chances,” he said.
He added: “We said to keep going, and believe in ourselves, that is what I demand from the team. I said during half-time to keep believing and you will win this game.”
Garnacho’s two goals brought United back in the game. “Today, I think over 90 minutes on the right side he was an absolute threat. The whole front line was good, the timings so good, it was a continuous threat for the opponent,” said Erik on Garnacho.
United once again started on the slightly shabby note, especially with their defending. First-half goals from John McGinn (21st minute) and Leander Dendoncker (26th minute) put Aston in control. McGinn’s goal came from a free kick which Andre Onana could not defend, continuing his poor form. The second goal was also a result of poor defending as Clement Lenglet was able to latch onto McGinn’s cross and Dendoncker was unmarked and he easily put the ball into the net.
With the first-half score of 2-0, Villa was in the lead and United was booed at home at the end of the first half.
Alejandro Garnacho finally added a goal to United’s tally after a poor pass from Diego Carlos found Marcus Rashford, who passed it to Garnacho, who ended United’s near nine-hour goal wait across all the competitions in the 59th minute.
Garnacho brought United back in the hunt with a 71st-minute equaliser. In the 82nd minute, Hojlund’s instinctive volley found the nets and brought the roof off Old Trafford. Manchester United won the game 3-2.
Now United is in sixth place with 10 wins, a draw and eight losses, which gives them a total of 31 points. Villa is in third place with 12 wins, three draws and four losses, which gives them a total of 39 points.
