Man Utd boss delighted with clean sheet win.
- Think Football Ideas
- Dec 28, 2022
- 2 min read
Man Utd continued from where they left off before the World Cup as they ran out 3-0 winners against Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag said he was pleased his Red Devils kept a clean sheet when they hosted Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night.
United returned to Premier League action with a routine 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest, thanks to two goals in four first-half minutes from Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial and a second-half strike from midfielder Fred.
Forest thought they had halved the deficit when Willy Boly found the net in the first half, but his goal was ruled out for offside following a VAR check. The victory means United close the gap on the final Champions League spot to one point with a game in hand.
United travel to the Molineux Stadium to play Julen Lopetegui’s Wolves on Saturday (the 31st) and if they secure three points on the road, they’ll move up to the fourth place, two points above Spurs in the league table.
'We conceded no goals, kept a clean sheet’
Speaking to BBC Match of the Day, Ten Hag said: "We conceded no goals, kept a clean sheet. Happy with that because it is always the base to compete. We could have scored more goals definitely. We had some great attacks, lots of movement. When you have one on ones with the keeper, you have to score more goals.
On the front four [Antony, Martial, Rashford, and Bruno]that started the game, he said: "We want players in but that front four has not played much together in the first part of the season. If we can bring them together more often on the pitch, I'm sure they will progress and get routines together and score more goals."
Ten Hag also reserved special praise for Rashford, who has been in fine form recently: "It was not only Rashford but I'm really happy with his performance once again. He is in a really good pattern and if he keeps with this pattern and spirit, it is good for us and good for him."
There was a surprise in the starting line-up as Luke Shaw was paired with Raphael Varane at centre-back, however, Ten Hag explained why that was the case: "Shaw told me last week he can play there and said to put him in there. He played there really well, he looked really experienced and composed and it was a really good performance from him.
On where Man United can finish this season, Ten Hag added: "We're not looking at league positions right now, it's about where we are at the end of the season. We have to improve the process and battle for winning every game. That is the focus that the whole squad needs and every player needs to concentrate on that process."
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