Erik ten Hag’s tweak at half-time allowed United to gain more control, as they scored two goals in the second half.
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Manchester United ended the Premier League season with back-to-back wins. After beating Newcastle United 3-2 in midweek, the Red Devils registered an impressive 2-0 win away to Brighton & Hove Albion on the final matchday. With 60 points to their name, United finished eight this season, their worst-ever Premier League finish. The season is still not over for them, as they have a FA Cup final to play against Manchester City.
On the final Premier League day of the season, Manchester United had some good moments but Brighton & Hove Albion had the better of chances in the first half. However, Erik ten Hag’s tweak at half-time allowed United to gain more control, as they scored two goals through Diogo Dalot and substitute Rasmus Hojlund to seal the win. After the match, ten Hag went into detail to explain the change he made at the break.
Reflecting on it, ten Hag told BBC, Sky Sports, MUTV and others, “The first half, we were not 100 per cent in control. We have seen that. We had to face some chances from Brighton but, after half-time, when we changed something in our way of play, then we got more control. We were better defending, the organisation and pressing, and also kept the ball better and got movements in for the ball behind where, in the first half, it was too static.”
He added: “What did we change? We swapped our no.6s [Kobbie Mainoo and Sofyan Amrabat] from the side, left and right, that was important and also, in the right side, we had a lot of problems defending Joao Pedro in the first half. After half-time, we got in control and were better on the ball and had movements. You see with the first goal, we got movement in behind.”
The manager was also full of praise for versatile full-back Diogo Dalot, who had opened the scoring on Sunday. “It is about making overloads in midfield and, from there on, he is a very good runner in behind, he can do it from left and right full-back. He can attack from there but also in the centre areas and on wide areas, by bringing crosses in. He is a player who has developed as a full-back, and not as just as a full-back, but also as an inverted one too. I think his development has been very good this season and we are very pleased with him,” he explained.
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