Man.Utd 2-0 Nottingham Forest: Erik ten Hag has immediately seized his first chance to reach a final with Manchester United. The manager of the English record champion is looking forward to the EFL Cup final against Newcastle United, but points out that it is still a while away. The game was also not completely appealing to him.
The return against Nottingham Forest in the semi-final of the League Cup was actually a formality. United had already won 0-3 at the City Ground, so The Red Devils could only escape the final by a miracle. That did not happen: at Old Trafford it never became exciting. United also won this time, now 2-0. The final is at Wembley on Sunday 26 February.
Erik ten Hag’s press conference
Ten Hag said: “Of course we are looking forward to that, but there are still many matches,” referring to, among other things, the two matches against Barcelona in the Europa League that are still to come before the final. What his team put on the mat on Wednesday evening was no reason for Ten Hag to be completely satisfied.
“Of course it’s okay if you win a semi-final, but to be honest the first half wasn’t great. It was professional, but too slow and with too few chances. After rest it was a lot better. The pace was higher and we scored a few good goals,” said the manager, who still had an explanation for the lesser first half of his troops.
“They defended compactly, they did well. We couldn’t find the holes. I don’t think we were frustrated, but we had to be smart. You don’t want to give anything away, so make sure you keep possession of the ball,” Ten Hag told Sky Sports. The trainer had a special word of thanks for his substitutes. Jadon Sancho, among others, was back on the field after a long absence.
He concluded, “We’ve had to make a lot of compromises so far, I hope all the players are available now. If you want to win prizes, you need them all. You saw tonight that you can bring a new dynamic from the couch.”
