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Erik ten Hag said Manchester United have not been a crisis club this season — despite negative headlines and a string of bad results — after two Scott McTominay goals secure a 2-1 Old Trafford win against Chelsea.
United won convincingly despite Marcus Rashford‘s demotion to the substitutes’ bench and the victory moves Ten Hag’s team to within three points of reigning champions Manchester City, who are fourth after a 1-0 loss at Aston Villa.
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But with Ten Hag dropping Rashford and Anthony Martial following their poor performance in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Newcastle United, the United manager rejected suggestions that his club had been in crisis in recent weeks.
“Crisis? Not for us,” Ten Hag said. “We are on a journey, we keep calm and believe in the process. We know what we have to build and we don’t get distracted by criticism around us. I don’t care about the noise. When we stick together, have the right attitude, we have the performances to collect points.
“You see how we won points — we dominated our opponent with possession and that’s how we want to play.”
United had 28 shots — nine on target — as they dominated Mauricio Pochettino’s team at Old Trafford. And although Cole Palmer‘s 44th minute goal cancelled out McTominay’s first-half opener, the United midfielder restored the home team’s lead and claimed the win with a second-half header.
“In the end we won, but we could have made life easier for ourselves,” Ten Hag said. “We could have scored three times in the first 30 minutes.
“We know we are not quickly satisfied and happy because we always wants to do better and put things right. But I am very pleased with the number of chances we created.”
United host Bournemouth at Old Trafford in their next match on Saturday.