Manchester United had a nervous night against Omonia Nicosia in their Europa League group stage match.
United went into the break 1-0 down but managed to win 3-2 at the end, with goals from Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial.
While United may feel unlucky to have conceded from the hosts’ first attack, the goal was their own doing.
And Paul Scholes criticized Jadon Sancho for the goal.
Sancho dropped back from a decent position in the opposite third after a United set-piece.
The decision put pressure on Tyrell Malacia, which led to a three-on-three counterattack that left the Red Devils behind.
For Scholes, the fact that the winger couldn’t back down was critical.
“Sancho’s reaction after… He begins to back down.”
Owen Hargreaves called the half-time substitutes “a message to the players” as Sancho was hooked by Marcus Rashford.
Hargreaves declared the academy graduate “the best player on the field” following his introduction and it would be hard to disagree with him.
The pair of former Man United players praised Ten Hag for his changes, which clearly affected the match in his favour.
Naturally, the nature of the performance drew criticism of United’s defense in general.
“Eight into two is not great. They’re just conceding too many goals,” Hargreaves said.
While Scholes sees “objectives in this team”, Ten Hag will need to do something to stop the bleeding in his back ahead of Manchester United’s trip to Goodison Park on Sunday.
