Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag lauded the contributions of substitute Luke Shaw, Marcus Rashford, and Anthony Martial after the club’s 3-2 victory over Omonia Nicosia on Thursday night.
At halftime, the Red Devils were down 1-0 to the Cyprus based club after Karim Ansarifard gave Neil Lennon’s team the lead in the 34th minute.
United dominated most of the game, but they were unable to generate any clear-cut opportunities in the opening 45 minutes. However, after the break, Shaw and Rashford were sent on, and the latter quickly brought United back into the game.
After 62 minutes, Martial was given the chance to play his role as a subsititute, and he almost immediately had an impact by converting Rashford’s clever flick.
Following Cristiano Ronaldo’s effort at the back post, the England forward scored again late in the game. Then, in the 85th minute, Nikolas Panayiotou scored to give some hope for Omonia.
However, Ten Hag’s substitutions were what made the difference in the match in Cyprus, and Ten Hag was delighted with the performances of his three substitutes.
As reported by The Athletic, he siad:
“We started well, a couple of chances, then (that) mistake cannot happen – we have to take responsibility there. You let the crowd get alive and we have to avoid that. But then we had a really bad 10 minutes and we have to learn from it.”
“We were too static. We had to make movements in behind and that’s why we made the subs. They had a real impact. That makes the team stronger.”
Following his two-goal cameo against Manchester City at the weekend, Martial now has three goals in less than an hour of play over the past five days.
Ten Hag, who has occasionally been compelled to play Rashford up front this season despite the 24-year-old’s suitability on the left wing, will be further encouraged by Martial’s second-half performance.
This would give the manager a chance to play the French striker upfront and shifting Rashford to the elft against Everton.
