Manchester United huffed and puffed their way to a last-minute 1-0 victory against Omonia Nicosia at Old Trafford on Thursday.
Substitute Scott McTominay saved Erik ten Hag’s blushes on the night after his forward players were guilty of missing brilliant opportunities throughout the game.
The Dutchman has often spoken of his desire to see his team show aggressiveness and decisiveness in games, but that was not on display on Thursday.
Shabby ending + fantastic upkeep
Marcus Rashford did his best and had multiple shots on goal, but the Omonia goalkeeper Francisco Uzoho he was up to the task on the night, making excellent save after save.
United dominated proceedings from the get-go, which can be evidenced by the fact that they took 34 shots in total against 3 for their opponents.
The Red Devils had 13 shots on goal to one by Omonia while the hosts enjoyed 78% possession.
The Dutchman didn’t get frustrated and made smart changes that paid off in the end.
Jadon Sancho has come under fire of late for his lack of effort, but on Thursday, the England international’s brief cameo was lively and it was his deflected shot that fell on fellow substitute McTominay to score.
Subs win it for Utd
The Scot will miss the weekend’s game against Newcastle United, but he made a revealing contribution in the end. Casemiro played a good game but the substitution of Ten Hag showed that he knew how to get the best out of his team.
Another substitute, Luke Shaw, fitted in brilliantly with Rashford and then Sancho, and is expected to keep his place for the weekend’s league clash.
Ten Hag seems to be slowly mastering the ability to make revealing substitutions and that showed against Omonia.
Even in the previous match against the same opponents, Rashford and Anthony Martial combined to save United’s blushes. The same trick was repeated in the league when Cristiano Ronaldo came on to score the winner against Everton.
However, he will be worried about the finishing ability Ronaldo and Rashford showed, as they ended up missing a lot of chances.
Martial’s injury could mean the Dutch coach has no choice but to rely on the same players once again.
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