Erik ten Hag has praised David De Gea after Man Utd were “quite lucky at times” in their 3-0 Premier League win over AFC Bournemouth.
Manchester United were far from their best against AFC Bournemouth but in the end, it did not matter as they were still able to breeze past their Premier League rivals on Wednesday night.
The Red Devils took control of the game via goals from Casemiro and Luke Shaw before Marcus Rashford added a third for the hosts late on.
This is United’s fourth straight win in the league and they are now level on points with third-placed Newcastle United. There is also now a five-point game between them and Tottenham in fifth.
Man Utd are yet not fully out of the title race either as nine points are between them and leaders Arsenal after 17 games.
Ten Hag was not completely happy with his side post-match but he praised De Gea after he made “some great saves”.
“I’m happy with the result. Today it was not our best game. We have to be honest, we didn’t play that smart as a team. We made great goals, but at times we were quite lucky, and some great saves from David [de Gea]. We could have been smarter as a team,” Ten Hag said.
“There were big spaces at 2-0 up, sometimes we have to keep the ball and recognise when to go for goal. That is the next step. It is always good to win 3-0. It was a great performance for the crowd, with scoring opportunities for both goals. To win 3-0 is always good.
“We have to go from game-to-game. The next game is a cup one, but we want to win every game. That has to be the approach. We don’t want to look any further, focus on that, it will be a tough game. We need every energy in the preparation and when we kick off on Friday night.”
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De Gea added after United’s victory that there is currently a positive feeling in the club’s dressing room.
“We played really well and scored from a free-kick and in the second-half, in the first 15 to 20 minutes we controlled the game well but after the second goal they had some counter attacks where there was space in the middle of the pitch and we cannot concede clear chances but I made some saves and we got the three points in the end.
“Everyone is really focused. We changed both centre-backs and they played really well. The feeling in the dressing room is that everyone wants to win and go the same way.”
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