Erik ten Hag panned Manchester United’s second-half performance against Aston Villa in Perth and claimed they threw away victory.
United led 2-0 at the interval on their final friendly in Australia through Jadon Sancho’s volley and a Matty Cash own goal, but substitute Leon Bailey struck early in the second-half and Calum Chambers outjumped David de Gea with the final touch of the game in the 92nd minute to clinch a 2-2 draw.
On a sodden surface at the Optus Stadium, United played fluently prior to the interval and Ten Hag resisted any changes but their performance level plummeted drastically following the restart.
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“We had a lot of movement behind the defending line, scored two great goals, so we were 2-0 up at half-time and then our focus dropped,” Ten Hag said. “It can be that the guys are tired but that’s not an excuse. They have to perform and it is what we didn’t do in the second half. In the first half we were really good."
When asked to account for United’s drop-off, Ten Hag reiterated: “It was the focus. I don’t want to make excuses about the pitch or weather. No matter what we have to perform.
“Football is a sport of mistakes and we have to decrease the mistakes. That’s clear but I have seen a lot of progress in these two weeks.
“In the first-half, I saw really good football, really controlling and dominating the game but we have to learn from what happened in the second-half. It’s not possible that you go 2-0 and then throw it away.
“That’s what I just said in the dressing room: a drop of focus is unacceptable but to the season I’m happy because now I can tell them it cannot happen.
“We have to get out of the dressing room and back in your plan and your focus and back to your performance and that is what we didn’t do.”
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