Erik ten Hag praises his side's 'creativity and scoring capabilities'
‘Football is all about scoring goals’: Erik ten Hag praises his side’s ‘creativity and scoring capabilities’ after Scott McTominay’s 93rd-minute winner against Omonia Nicosia… as the Dutchman hails his side’s perseverance
- Erik ten Hag is adamant that scoring goals is more important than winning
- His side needed a 93rd-minute winner to see off a spirited Omonia Nicosia side
- The Dutchman admitted he wants his side to score early to kill off close games
Erik ten Hag was pleased by the way Manchester United stuck at it as substitute Scott McTominay struck deep in stoppage time to deny Neil Lennon’s Omonia Nicosia a famous Old Trafford draw.
Playing at home for the first time in five weeks, poor finishing and the inspired performance of back-up goalkeeper Francis Uzoho had the Cypriot side dreaming of an incredible Europa League result.
But three minutes into stoppage time United managed to score with their 34th attempt of the evening as Jadon Sancho found fellow sub McTominay to seal a 1-0 win from close range.
Erik ten Hag praised his side’s strong scoring record despite a stop-start campaign
‘What you see is that in every game except against Brentford we score, so in this team there’s a lot of creativity and scoring capabilities,’ manager Ten Hag said of his side’s finishing.
‘Sometimes you have a night where you will not succeed and for some players today was that night.
‘But what the good thing is – and I have to congratulate the team for that – they keep going and they don’t give up.
‘They keep believing they will the score and in the end they get rewarded. That is the way how you have to do it.
Scott McTominay’s 93rd-minute winner saw off a spirited Omonia Nicosia performance
‘I had unluckily many more nights where you play well, you create chances but you don’t net. Football is about scoring goals and avoiding them.’
The Dutchman believes scoring goals is more important than winning
But the Red Devils manager was quick to point out that winning a match is not the main thing, and that finding the back of the net is the crux of the game.
When asked whether victory is all that matters by BT Sport, he added: ‘No it’s not because football is about scoring goals.
‘We created so many chances but we only hit the back of the net once. The team are patient, they kept creating and then they scored.’
But despite a stop-start campaign so far for the Old Trafford side, they have not struggled to hit the target, despite Cristiano Ronaldo’s absence from the starting lineup on several occasions.
In 12 games so far for 2022-23 they have only failed to net twice; in the shocking 4-0 loss away at Brentford in their second game of the season, and in a 1-0 home loss to Real Sociedad in their Europa League opener.
And Ten Hag reiterated his faith in his team’s attacking capabilities: ‘I have no concern because in every game we score. I have the faith we will continue with that. Hopefully we’re saving the goals for next week.
United have now scored in all but two of their 12 fixtures this season in all competitions
‘We said at half-time we need to keep the focus. When you play against a defensively compact opponent and you don’t score, you get impatient. You can get sloppy and lose you the ball and then they break.
‘I have a preference to score more and earlier because it makes it easier.
‘We still have two games to go and we go game to game.’
Share this article
Source: Read Full Article