The only goal of the game came around the 20th-minute mark when Kai Havertz set up Leandro Trossard. In the build-up, Havertz was played onside by poor defending.
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The game of the Premier League weekend took place at Old Trafford when Manchester United hosted Arsenal. The game had all the ingredients to make it a special occasion. The Gunners needed the win to keep their title hopes alive with defending champions Manchester City breathing down their neck. On the other hand, United were keen to bounce back from recent disappointments and keep their hopes of qualifying for Europe alive. With a lot at stake, the Premier League contest got off to an even start.
The only goal of the game came around the 20th-minute mark when Kai Havertz set up Leandro Trossard. In the build-up, Havertz was played onside by poor defending, allowing Arsenal to take advantage of the situation. Erik ten Hag was understandably not happy with the goal. “It was a bad moment our side and it shouldn’t happened, but that is top football. It’s a detail and in that detail we were wrong and we have to take that. But, of course, it’s very hard in this moment,” ten Hag told MUTV, Sky Sports and others after the match.
Manchester United did not create too many chances but stayed in the game till the end to get an equaliser. Ten Hag praised Arsenal’s defensive record and spoke about the importance of being really good on the ball against them. “We see the record. The [Arsenal] defensive record is very good, and you have to be very good on the ball and to hammer them and that is probably when I want to be critical. That’s a factor. We could have done better, but for the rest of the game, I think a lot of good things I have seen,” he explained.
United had several injuries heading into the game, with Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford also missing out of this clash. Still, ten Hag believed his much-changed line-up competed well. “We were very competitive. And you see, even when we miss six, or seven [of our] potential starting XI, maybe even more, we can bring performance and we can bring a level. And on Monday night [at Crystal Palace], that was a very bad day at the office, I would say from all the players, very poor and isn’t acceptable. But today we have shown when we have that good spirit that we can bring a performance,” he said.
The manager added: “Mostly this team has always the right spirit and they always execute the rules and the principles from the game, how we want them to play and even if they have to adapt to different positions, where we are now with all the injuries. And so yeah, I can only be happy. And I think it’s a compliment for this team that the ones who played, they executed with all that they could and they were competitive and they were fighting. And then you see you can get a result.”
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