Erik ten Hag conceded he had mixed feelings after Manchester United’s extraordinary 4-3 stoppage-time win at Wolves, praising his side’s resilience but criticising their naivety after they almost surrendered victory. United led 2-0 inside 22 minutes after goals from the returning Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Højlund but Pedro Neto made it 3-3 in the 95th minute before teenager Kobbie Mainoo’s superb winner less than 90 seconds later.
Ten Hag said he was pleased with Rashford, who played 73 minutes on his return after being omitted from the squad that travelled to Newport County for their FA Cup fourth-round victory last Sunday. Rashford was disciplined by Ten Hag after reporting ill for training the morning after being pictured at a nightclub in Belfast.
United, as against Newport, again squandered a two-goal lead and for the fourth straight Premier League match his side conceded at least two goals. Pablo Sarabia scored a penalty and Max Kilman fired in to make it 3-2 before Neto struck. Ten Hag acknowledged he must “hammer out” recurring mistakes from his team. “We should have managed the situation better,” he said.
“For the penalty, they beat our press and it was similar to the second goal we conceded in Newport. We have to hammer this out of the team and such mistakes cannot happen. What is asked in that moment is leadership on the pitch and it cannot be that that is happening and that we are conceding such goals. I have mixed feelings but I was very pleased with the team performance and some individual performances from our side.”
Asked to pinpoint the reasons for their defensive lapses, the United manager repliedhe added: “It is about reading the game and when you are leading, keeping the ball. We want [to score] too many goals … we are taking too many risks, losing the ball and encouraging opponents. We have to learn. It is quite naive when you are open and you are leading a game. You should not all run forward but just stay calm, keep the ball and make sure your organisation and defending is always good.”
Gary O’Neil, the Wolves manager, was disappointed after an agonising defeat and an ultimately deflating deadline day. Wolves missed out on loaning Chelsea’s Armando Broja, who joined Fulham, and failed to add a striker in the window.
“We couldn’t afford to do it financially, where it ended up,” O’Neil said. “But we haven’t been deducted 10 points, we’re still together, we’re still putting in performances that show we’re all together. We’ll try and keep it moving that way.”
