Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag praised his side’s attacking weapons after coming from behind twice to down Aston Villa 4-2 in the League Cup on Thursday.
United, who lost 3-1 to Villa in the Premier League on Sunday, bounced back to clinch their spot in the fourth round where they will face Burnley.
Villa took the lead twice in a six-goal second half, but United responded, initially within 90 seconds when Bruno Fernandes laid off for Anthony Martial to equalise.
Then they piled on three goals after Diogo Dalot’s own goal, with Argentine 18-year-old Alejandro Garnacho getting two assists for Fernandes and Scott McTominay strikes after Marcus Rashford equalised with a composed finish.
“They have the capabilities to do that,” Ten Hag told reporters. “But also Bruno, Garnacho, and on the outside of the second phase with Scott with his runs, they have the capabilities to get in behind and they did well.
“We could see they played a high line and we said to play the ball in behind. I think we were quite successful with that in the second half. It was a real cup game.
“I enjoyed it, my players enjoyed it. Of course, we are happy we are in the next round.”
The Dutchman was especially thrilled with United’s response to Sunday’s loss to the same opponents.
“I think we made good steps in the last months with our mentality and this is further evidence of it but we are not there, where we want to be,” he said.
“Sunday was really poor. It can’t happen. We have to blame ourselves for the performance. But what we see after such a performance on Sunday, to fight back today, even when twice down, is good and a real compliment for tonight.”
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