Erik ten Hag describes how Cristiano Ronaldo substitution helped Manchester United defeat Arsenal
Premier League leaders Arsenal suffered their first loss of the season at the hands of Manchester United, according to the Red Devils’ manager Erik ten Hag, who believed the addition of Cristiano Ronaldo increased his team’s attacking versatility.
Ronaldo replaced Jadon Sancho with United leading 1-0 in the 58th minute, and two minutes later, Bukayo Saka equalized.
Six minutes later, though, Marcus Rashford was set up by Bruno Fernandes to restore United’s lead, and the academy product scored again in the 75th minute
Rashford was moved to the left flank to make room for Ronaldo, who enjoyed his most productive game of the season in the center striker position.
Ten Hag, when asked about the rationale behind shifting Rashford, stated, “It can also do it from the right, you bring in Cristiano Ronaldo as a frontman.
“Marcus did as a nine and from the wing, he played like Christian Eriksen, a pressing game, he transferred really good, but we expect from him a way of playing as a striker to be the target, drop in, play over, linking, arriving in the box and scoring goals.
“I’m really happy with his performance, it shows his development and room for improvement, but he’s got such great capabilities, I’m happy with him in the team.”
United have won four straight games for the first time since April 2021 and are currently only three points behind the Premier League’s top spot.
Their European schedule begins on Thursday with a match against Real Sociedad, followed by a trip to Crystal Palace the following Sunday.
“We have to keep pushing,” Ten Hag added. “The attitude and mentality, set high standards every day, we have to do better, there’s a lot of room for improvement from the start of the season, we have to work hard every day and everyone has to bring their maximum to Carrington.
“I understand fans are dreaming, the standards of Man United has to be good, we’re at the start of a process, we’re still far away, we have to get doing things much better than we do, that’s an investment.
“We have to do that way together every day, bring those high standards to Carrington, we have to get better if you want to win trophies in the end. We have to win every game, they have to see that the game is coming on, with the attitude we have to win games.”
Erik ten Hag describes how Cristiano Ronaldo substitution helped Manchester United defeat Arsenal
