Erik ten Hag admits Manchester United were lucky to escape with a point vs. Brentford – Man United News And Transfer News

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Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has admitted that his side were lucky to get a point in their 1-1 stalemate against Brentford.

United thought they had completed the ultimate smash-and-grab when Mason Mount scored in the 96th minute.

However, the Red Devils were hit back just three minutes later via Kristoffer Ajer, who got on the end of a cut-back from Ivan Toney to put the ball into the back of Andre Onana’s net.

United were very poor for large parts of the game and it’s a relief that the team even managed to scrape a point.

Brentford were relentless and hardly gave the Red Devils breathing room.

After the match, Ten Hag spoke to Sky Sports and gave his verdict on yet another poor performance from his players.

The Dutchman was asked whether United were lucky to get a point. He said, “Yes, I think so. If you are winning you shouldn’t give it away. We are a strong side and strong in certain situations and we have to get it over the line. That bit is disappointing.”

“We made certain mistakes. We should act differently on a different occasion. The equaliser was absolutely unnecessary. Maybe we didn’t deserve it, I thought Brentford wanted more in the whole course of the game.”

“In the final third, we were not secure. We were slow. Second balls, defending, we were not good. They were more aggressive. They had more energy and it should be the other way around.”

Ten Hag added, “I’m experienced, even when we don’t play well, we win the game. It was almost. That’s what disappointing the most.”

“I know always after international break, there will always be this, the players are out of the rhythm, they are in different situations. When we don’t play so good, we have to win. We almost won.”

The 53-year-old called on the senior stars within his ranks to stand up and be counted. Ten Hag noted that everyone at the club should take responsibility for the current predicament and keep fighting until the end.

The United boss also said that the Bees showed more passion, desire and determination than the 20-time English champions. Ten Hag further stated that there is quality in the team and the challenge is to show it on a regular basis while also winning games.

When asked whether it’s acceptable for other teams to show more fight than United, Ten Hag divulged, “No never. We showed it against Liverpool and in many games. We have to bring it on the pitch. We fought but in the small things, second balls etc, Brentford were more focused and more aggressive and it should be the other way round.”

“We shouldn’t give it away” 🙄

Erik ten Hag says the result is disappointing for Man Utd 👇 pic.twitter.com/ReAK6nICh2

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) March 30, 2024

Up next for United is a trip to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea on Thursday.

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