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Erik ten Hag was delighted with Manchester United’s 3-0 win over Bournemouth, but admitted it was not his team’s best game and suggested they were lucky.
Goals from Casemiro, Luke Shaw and Marcus Rashford made it a comfortable afternoon for the hosts at Old Trafford as United moved level on points with third-placed Newcastle, but the Ten Hag preferred to focus on David de Gea’s second-half save.
“I’m very happy, quite clearly and quite clearly,” said the Dutchman. “But today wasn’t our best game, we have to be honest, we didn’t play smart as a team, we scored some good goals but we were also lucky at times.
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FREE to watch: Highlights from the Premier League match between Manchester United and Bournemouth
“There was a great save from David and I think we could have avoided it by playing a bit smarter, playing more as a team. In the end, we got two departments, one attacking, one defending.
“At 2-0 up there are wide spaces, keep the ball, and recognize when there is a chance to score. There is always the next step, but everything is always good when we win 3-0 at home.
“I think we had some good attacks, I think for the crowd it was a good performance – with chances at both ends, and we won, so it’s always good.”
Casemiro scored Manchester United’s opening goal in the first half
One of the concerns for Ten Hag was the injury to Donny van de Beek which ended the evening early in what would have been his first home win as a starter in the Premier League.
“I can’t give it now,” the United boss said when asked to give an update on his team-mate’s fitness. “We had to wait 24 hours but it didn’t look too good.”
United’s future looks brighter but Ten Hag refuses to look too far ahead.
“We have to go from game to game. The next game is the cup game, but there is also a league that we want to win, we want to win every game, but it has to be an approach.
“The approach is to go to the next game and not look back, focus on it, it’s going to be a tough game, we know that, so we need the right energy and preparation to have energy when we kick off. Friday night.”
Marcus Rashford was attacked by his team-mates after scoring Manchester United’s third goal of late
What’s next for Man Utd?
Manchester United host Everton in the third round of the FA Cup on Saturday at 8pm before the welcome Charlton to Old Trafford on January 10, also at 8pm, in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup.
United return to Premier League action on January 14 at 12.30pm when they take on their rivals Manchester City make a trip to Old Trafford.
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