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Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has taken issue with his players’ inability to kill off the game as they were held to a disappointing 1-1 draw vs. FC Twente.
The Dutchman also lambasted the team for “dropping a level” in the second period of the match and in the process, allowing their opponents an avenue back to ensure the spoils were shared.
Christian Eriksen put United in the lead in the 35th minute as he smashed in home a powerful shot from inside the box.
As has become the norm with the Red Devils, they created a number of chances but failed to make them count and as it turned out, they were made to pay for this shortcoming.
A costly Eriksen mistake directly led to FC Twente equalising with less than half an hour left on the clock.
During his presser, a day before the meeting at Old Trafford, Ten Hag issued a kill order to his stars as he urged them to be more clinical in front of goal.
This is after United played out another frustrating stalemate last weekend at Selhurst Park vs. Crystal Palace.
After the final whistle against Twente, Ten Hag spoke to TNT Sports and had his say on the match and what went wrong for his side.
He lamented, “We kept them [Twente] alive when we were one nil up and controlling the game.”
“You have to be consistent, you have to keep going in the second half and we dropped a level and we gave a goal away.”
He added, “We didn’t finish it off. We had to go for the second goal and so they stayed alive and we got punished, with a mistake from ourselves.”
Ten Hag insisted that it was not one individual error that cost the team as a Twente player was allowed to dribble some distance before Andre Onana was eventually beaten.
On where United goes from here, the 54-year-old coach stated, “We have seen some good structures here again but we have to do it consistently. You have to keep going all game. Once you are one nil up, you have to keep going and go for the second.”
“In the second half we dropped a level and gave a goal away.”
Erik ten Hag reacts to Man United’s draw with FC Twente 🤝 pic.twitter.com/Fj6sV6WURS
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) September 25, 2024
Up next for United is a trip to North London to face Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur.
Feature image Carl Recine via Getty Images
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