Manchester United 3-0 Bournemouth: Erik ten Hag is happy with the win but says his team has been lucky at times | football news

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Erik ten Hag was delighted with Manchester United’s 3-0 win over Bournemouth but claimed it was not his team’s best match and suggested they were lucky.

Goals from Casemiro, Luke Shaw and Marcus Rashford made for a comfortable enough evening for the hosts at Old Trafford as United moved up on points with third-placed Newcastle but Ten Hag preferred to focus on David De Gea’s saves in the second half.

“I’m happy with this, completely clear and obvious,” said the Dutchman. “But today wasn’t our best game, we have to be honest, we didn’t play that smart as a team, we scored great goals but sometimes we were lucky too.

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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from the Premier League match between Manchester United and Bournemouth

“There were great saves from David and I think we can avoid that by playing a bit smarter, playing a bit more as a team. Finally we end up with two sections, one attacking and one defending.

“At 2-0 there’s plenty of space, keep the ball, know when there’s a chance to score. There’s always a next step, but it’s all good of course when you win 3-0 at home.

“I think we had some great attacks, and I think it was a great performance for the crowd – with chances at both ends, and we won, which is always good.”

Ten Hag added in the post-match press conference: “It was like a tennis match. We don’t want to play tennis, we want to play football. Keep possession. It costs a lot of energy for the back line. It takes a lot. It takes a lot of risk and the forwards struggle to get back.” .

“We’re still in the process. In the first half we control the game but don’t play brilliantly. In the second half we create a great response. But we have to be smart. Stay grounded. Get them running. You’re going to have chances.”

“We feel strong but we only stay strong if we do our job and give 100 per cent in every situation. I didn’t have that feeling. I had the feeling we thought it was easy and the game was over. But if they make it 2-1 then the game isn’t gone.”

“The belief is growing and it’s good to have that feeling but we have to understand that we have to give 100 per cent in every game.”

Photo: Casemiro scored Manchester United’s opening goal in the first half

One of Ten Hag’s concerns was an injury to Donny van de Beek which saw his evening come to an early end in what would prove to be his first home win as a debutant in the Premier League.

“I can’t give that at the moment,” said the United manager when asked for an update on his countryman’s fitness. “We have to wait 24 hours but it doesn’t look good.”

United’s future looks somewhat better, but Ten Hag doesn’t want to look too far ahead.

“We have to move from game to game. The next game is a cup game, but there is also a league that we want to win, we want to win every game, but that has to be the approach.

“The approach has to be for the next game and we don’t look any further, focus on that, it’s going to be a tough game, we know that, so we need all the energy and the proper preparation to get the energy when we kick on Friday night.”

Image: Marcus Rashford being attacked by his team-mates after scoring Manchester United’s third goal late on What’s next for Manchester United?

Manchester United host Everton in the FA Cup third round on Friday at 8pm before hosting Charlton at Old Trafford on January 10, also at 8pm, in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.

United return to Premier League action on January 14th at 12:30pm when rivals Manchester City take a trip to Old Trafford.

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