Erik Ten Hag claimed after Manchester United’s win over Omonia Nicosia that winning is not the most important thing as his side were “sloppy”.
United will certainly be glad to see the back of Omonia Nicosia. They have endured unnecessary issues against Neil Lennon’s side.
Man Utd travelled to face the Cypriot outfit last week and Ten Hag’s team had to battle back from behind to win 3-2.
The Red Devils hosted Nicosia on Thursday night in the reverse group fixture at Old Trafford. It proved to be another frustrating night for United as 33 shots resulted in zero goals.
A draw looked on the cards before Scott McTominay scored a vital winner for the hosts in stoppage-time with their 34th effort on goal.
This win keeps United second in Group E. They are three points behind Real Sociedad with two games to go after they were beaten by the La Liga side in their opener.
Man Utd must win their remaining games and beat Sociedad by a greater deficit than one goal to top the group.
Ten Hag was clearly frustrated with his players when speaking post-match. When asked if winning is the main thing, he answered: “No it’s not because football is about scoring goals.
“We created so many chances but we only hit the back of the net once. The team are patient, they kept creating and then they scored.”
On whether United hav an issue with scoring: “I have no concern because in every game we score. I have faith we will continue with that. Hopefully, we’re saving the goals for next week.
“We said at half-time we need to keep the focus. When you play against a defensively compact opponent and you don’t score, you get impatient. You can get sloppy and lose the ball and then they break.
“I have a preference to score more and earlier because it makes it easier.
“We still have two games to go and we go game to game.”
McTominay credited United’s “good team spirit” after the win as “no one ever gives up”:
“We knew we needed the win tonight but that they’d be fired up too,” McTominay added.
“Neil Lennon is a great coach and no games like this are ever easy. Everyone is pleased with the result.
“You have to be patient sometimes. Rashford had so many chances and we did everything but score. Their goalkeeper was a different class but we created enough chances and deserved to score in the end.
“I wasn’t on the pitch for the majority of the game but sometimes you think it’s not going to be your day. The team spirit is good though and no one ever gives up.
“It’s a massive goal because we need to win the group.”
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