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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Tom Victor

Erik ten Hag's brilliant 8-word response to claims Man Utd initially struggled

Erik ten Hag said he didn't have enough time to run through everything his team did wrong in the first half of their Premier League victory over Leicester City.

Two goals from Marcus Rashford and one from substitute Jadon Sancho helped United win 3-0 against Brendan Rodgers' side. They didn't have everything their own way, though, with goalkeeper David de Gea called into action more than once.

A save from Kelechi Iheanacho was arguably the pick of the bunch as De Gea equalled a Peter Schmeichel clean sheet record. United fans might have felt their team was fortunate to go in ahead at the break, and the manager appeared to agree.

In his post-match interview, Ten Hag was asked what went wrong for his side in the opening 45 minutes. "I don't have that much time with you," was his reply.

United did go in front at the break, despite a shuffled starting XI struggling at times. Victor Lindelof started at centre-back with Harry Maguire injured and Raphael Varane rested, while midfielder Casemiro served the final game of a three-match ban for his red card against Crystal Palace.

Rashford broke the offside trap to give his team a half-time lead and did the same again - very narrowly, as it proved after a VAR check - in the second period. Ten Hag introduced England winger Sancho at the break, and the substitute fired home United's third after linking up well with Bruno Fernandes.

Were Man Utd lucky to beat Leicester? Have your say in the comments section

David de Gea had a big part to play for Man United (Dave Thompson/AP/REX/Shutterstock)

The victory took United within three points of second-place Manchester City, while the gap to league leaders Arsenal is back down to five after the Gunners' win over Aston Villa on Saturday. Two-goal hero Rashford was asked after the game whether he felt his team was in a title race, and the top scorer was in no doubt.

"Obviously, we are there, we are close," Rashford told Sky Sports. "At the same time, both teams in front of us are really good teams and they are playing good football at the minute as well.

"Overall, a good day," he added. "They [Leicester] created good opportunities and David made a great save at the end of the first half. Without that, we can't go on to win the game."

Marcus Rashford continued his impressive form (Getty Images)

Next up for Ten Hag's team is the second leg of their Europa League play-off game against Barcelona. A 2-2 draw at Camp Nou leaves both teams with all to play for, with a Rashford effort and a Jules Kounde own goal putting the Premier League side in front before Raphinha equalised for Barca, but United's boss felt Kounde should have been sent off before the leveller.

"At 2-1, it was a clear foul on Marcus Rashford," Ten Hag said. "We can discuss if it's inside the box or outside the box, but definitely, it's a red card.

"I asked the referee why. He said it was outside the box and that it was no foul. The linesman and referee were in a very good position to see and I think we had VAR.

"It's not good, it was a really bad decision. Maybe they were pressed by the pressure Barca made, but they can't be at this high level of European football.

"It's a big influence, not only on this game but in this round, and referees can't make such mistakes."

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