‘Football is about scoring goals’ - Erik ten Hag wants more from Manchester United after Omonia scare
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Published 13/10/2022 at 21:54 GMT
Manchester United struggled against their Cypriot rivals Omonia on Thursday night in a Europa League group game. Their manager Erik ten Hag was not overly concerned by his side's failure to score more than a single goal, but did ackowledge that he would prefer that they were sharper in front of goal and that he would like them to score earlier.
Erik ten Hag
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Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag admitted he wanted his team to score more often and earlier after they struggled to break down Omonia.
United had looked to be struggling on Thursday night in the Europa League against their opposition from Cyprus, when normal time saw the game move to 0-0 with minutes remaining.
However in the 93rd minute, midfielder Scott McTominay popped up with the winner to break their opponent’s hearts, and leave them on nine points with two games to go in the group.
That leaves them favourites to go into the knockout rounds alongside group leaders Real Socieded.
Speaking to BT Sport after the match, Ten Hag said that scoring goals was at the heart of the sport.
“Football is about scoring goals,” he said.
"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."
However he said he was not yet worried about his team’s attacking prowess, stating: "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.
"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."
Meanwhile, matchwinner McTominay praised the efforts of their rivals.
He told BT Sport: “We knew they’d be fired up – Neil Lennon’s a great coach – and we know it wouldn’t be easy. We had to be patient, their keeper was different class, but I felt we created enough chances to score.
"Sometimes you think it’s not gonna be your day, but credit to the team – we managed to get the goal. It’s a massive goal; we want to win the group.”
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