Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag was pleased with his player’s “desire and focus” in their 1-0 home victory over Brentford on Wednesday night.
The Red Devils put in one of their worst performances of the season over the weekend as they were beaten 2-0 at St James’ Park by Newcastle United.
This scoreline flattered Man Utd as Newcastle were much the better side. Ten Hag admitted post-match that his player’s opponents showed more “determination, passion and desire” en route to picking up all three points.
Man Utd were able to respond to this setback against Brentford at Old Trafford. Marcus Rashford scored his 15th Premier League goal of the season as the hosts edged out Thomas Frank’s side.
This win lifts United up to fourth in the table. They are three points clear of fifth-placed Tottenham and they still have a game in hand over the Londoners.
Speaking post-match, Ten Hag encouraged Rashford to “keep his focus” until the end of this season as he is “in very good form”.
“We played very good football, especially [in the] first half. second half was more of a battle. It is not easy against this very good Brentford team to play well. There was passion and desire and we got it over the line,” Ten Hag told BBC’s MOTD.
“The first goal is so important and then the game gets easier so you need that first goal.”
On Rashford: “Great finish. Once again he is on top and in very good form so hopefully he can keep doing it until the end of the season. Keep that focus and those energy levels and then he will score.”
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On David de Gea’s save: “When you need David, he is there and when you lose focus, mistakes can happen. We want to play as a machine and don’t make mistakes. We make one mistake and luckily they didn’t benefit from it and also it was the performance form David de Gea.
“Of course, this is a massive win for the Premier League, especially over Brentford. In 16 games they have only lost one. It is always difficult to play against them and to beat them but we did so I am proud of my team today.
“This gives us energy so we have to keep this and go to Saturday [against Everton], another big game.”
Rashford meanwhile is aware Man Utd “cannot drop their standards” at this point of the season.
“The important thing is always to win the next game. Everyone is clear that we are not going to play our best every…
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