'Too rushed, too erratic' - Erik ten Hag disappointed with Manchester United performance in Real Sociedad win
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Updated 03/11/2022 at 20:30 GMT
Manchester United beat Real Sociedad 1-0 in San Sebastian on Thursday night in their Europa League group match, but it was not enough to top the group. That means they are due to play a tie against a side knocked out of this season's Champions League tournament. After the match, manager Erik ten Hag said that his side had not attacked effectively in the second half.
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Erik ten Hag bemoaned his side’s lack of guile in front of goal in the second half against Real Sociedad as they missed the group’s top spot.
United won 1-0 courtesy of a first half Alejandro Garnacho goal, but needed a second to make sure they finished as group winners.
With the side frustrated in front of goal for the second half, they will now face a two-legged tie against one of the Champions League sides who finished third in their group stage: Ajax, Bayer Leverkusen, Barcelona, Sporting, Red Bull Salzburg, Shakhtar Donetsk, Sevilla or Juventus.
Speaking to BT Sport after the win, Ten Hag referenced the controversial penalty that Real Sociedad won in their first group match at Old Trafford earlier in the season.
“You do not always get what you deserve,” he began. “That’s always football. The first leg, you get a penalty that isn’t a penalty. Today we win. So I’m happy with that.”
He went on to praise young goalscorer, Garnacho, saying: “Some other things like the performance from Garnacho, Donny back in the team, we made a really good goal.
“But of course we are disappointed because we didn’t score the two goals we need. Antony was not available, Anthony Martial was not available, Jadon Sancho was not available, so it’s thin, and I am really happy with Garnacho’s performance. He was a threat, he scored a goal, he was reliable in defending, so I hope he can keep this going. It was a great attack, Bruno, Ronny and a great finish, it was really enjoyable.”
However, he said that after the restart, his team were, “too rushed, too erratic, we didn’t work good on the ball any more, we needed balls in the box but that process didn’t work well. We had to take risks, but we kept a clean sheet. Of course we are disappointed, we want always to be number one, but we have some positives to take from San Sebastian.”
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