Premier League 2023–24: Manchester United Manager Erik ten Hag Backs His 2nd Half Substitutions Following 3–0 Defeat to Manchester City

Manchester United head coach Erik Ten Hag talked about his substitutions and backed his decisions that were once again the point of criticism from the fans and critics as they lost to their local rival Manchester City by 3-0 at Old Trafford. The Red Devils were left shell-shocked after Manchester City registered a comprehensive victory painting the entire Manchester with the colour blue once again. United's struggle to play with a certain style was once again on display as on a tactical basis the Red Devils were outplayed on their turf and lacked the ability to break down City's near-perfect formation. Manchester United 0–3 Manchester City, Premier League 2023–24: Erling Haaland Brace Powers Cityzens to Big Win in Manchester Derby.

The first half was a close contest but Norwegian goalscorer Erling Haaland stepped up from the spot following a controversial decision and sent Onana the wrong way to give the Blues a goal advantage. The first half ended with a scoreline of 1-0 in Manchester City's favour.

At the beginning of the second half, Ten Hag decided to substitute Sofyan Amrabat with Mason Mount a decision that raised a few eyebrows. He talked about the first-half performance and his substitutions after the game and said as quoted from the club's official website, "Especially the first half, the game-plan went perfectly. Only the penalty changed the game. The first half, we played very well. We defended very good, closing the spaces, getting into the press, keeping them away from our own goal. Only one big save by Andre [Onana], they almost didn't create [too much]. We had opportunities, two or three great breaks, but didn't benefit from it."

"You can't say that [you regret making a change]. We had to create. We are losing the game. You have to act as a manager, especially when you have the bench, you have to use the bench and bring more offensive power on the pitch. When you have Mason Mount on the bench, you can expect some creativity."

Ten Hag's side tried to play out from the back and build the play with goalkeeper Onana initiating the attack. But after playing a couple of passes in their own half the players tried to go for a long ball and find the forwards. City's relentless press made it hard for players to make quick passes and attack the open areas.

Unlike the first half City exercised full control enjoying a lion share of possession creating chances at their pace and shifting through gears to dictate the flow of the game. They struck twice in the second half to end the game on a dominant note. The Dutch manager was quite frustrated with the performance in the second half and giving away a goal in just four minutes since the resumption of the game.

"The game-plan in the first half was very disciplined and then you see how successful it can be. We made an error for the second goal, we made a mistake. A wrong decision by going up to the keeper at the wrong moment. We did not recover quick and they can switch the play, our players are in the wrong positions and they make a great goal. We went out of shape and got killed by that but the first half was so perfect as we defended so well," Ten Hag added. Liverpool 3-0 Nottingham Forest, Premier League 2023-24: Mohamed Salah Shines Again as Reds Claim Dominant Win at Anfield.

The game ended 3-0 making it their 7th victory in the past nine Manchester derbies. With this defeat, United are in the eighth spot with 15 points after 10 games.

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