Manchester United news: We showed a reaction to Wolves defeat, says Ralf Rangnick

Ralf Rangnick saw his Manchester United side produce a spirited display to edge past Aston Villa 1-0 in the Emirates FA Cup third round on Monday night. An eighth-minute goal by Scott McTominay has set United with a match-up against Middlesbrough in round four. Despite progressing through, the narrow win over Steven Gerrard’s Villans was far from straightforward. The visitors had two goals disallowed via VAR, while United failed to make some good attacking situations count, as they had to hang on to their narrow 1-0 lead till the end. It was a good response to the disappointing 1-0 defeat United suffered against Wolves in the Premier League last week. After the match, Rangnick, while speaking to MUTV and BBC Sport, opened up about a lot of things, including tactical tweaks.

“I think everybody expected a reaction to the Wolves game. I think the team showed a reaction. We didn’t miss out on intensity, but we still had difficult moments in the game. First half, I thought, was good. We played a lot of diagonal balls; we kept the Villa team moving from one side to the other, scored a beautiful goal, but on the other hand, we were still struggling to get control in midfield. We knew that they are very flexible, Villa, with their midfield, with their two no.10s and their three no.6s and no.8s, so at times we were struggling,” he explained.

READ MORE – FA Cup: Manchester United narrowly beat wasteful Aston Villa

With 1-0 it’s always tight until the very end: Rangnick

“It got much better in the second half when we changed to a diamond and, yes, in the last 15 minutes, we controlled the game. On the counter-attack, I would have wished us to take better decisions in the second half. Then we could have scored maybe even a second goal, but with 1-0 it’s always tight until the very end.”

Rangnick then spoke about the formation United started the match with and the reason behind changing it in the second half. “We decided to play with a 4-2-3-1 with Edi up front, and with Bruno our no.10. But again, against a flexible midfield, at times, it was difficult, because with their 10s behind our sixes, ahead of our central defenders, it’s not too easy to defend that. It’s pretty challenging. As I said, after we changed to a diamond, it got better,” he added.

“I saw more aggression, but I didn’t necessarily see that much more pressing, because in order to see those pressing moments, you have to get into those pressing moments. As I said, it’s difficult against Villa. But what I saw was a team that desperately wanted to win and, in the end, that’s why we won the game.”