Erik ten Hag has explained that he took off Wout Weghorst on the hour mark to try and give Crystal Palace a different type of test for the final half an hour in Saturday’s 2-1 victory.
The striker mustered just one attempt at goal - a header - and had a mere 44 per cent success rate from his nine passes on his sixth appearance for the Reds. Weghorst was named in the line-up after Anthony Martial was ruled out again with injury.
The Dutchman has scored once in his 439 minutes since his January switch. He couldn’t double his tally against the Eagles on Saturday and with United looking for a second, he was replaced by Alejandro Garnacho as Marcus Rashford moved into a more central role to spearhead the attack.
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Garnacho was eventually substituted back off for Harry Maguire three minutes from time after Casemiro’s 70th-minute red card reduced the hosts to ten men. But the change had already had its desired impact, with Rashford doubling the lead shortly after his positional switch.
Ten Hag felt his decision was vindicated but made sure to praise the contribution Weghorst had made during his hour-long display.
“He [Weghorst] played excellently,” Ten Hag said as per Voetbal International. “He was strong in putting pressure, in being a point of contact. We were able to continue playing through him. Only at a certain point do you switch tactically. To put an opponent who has focused on Weghorst against a different type of player, I think it had an immediate effect.”
Martial missed a 20th game of the season in sitting out the win over Palace. Ten Hag detailed that the Frenchman suffered yet another setback after making a brief comeback against Nottingham Forest in the second leg of the League Cup semi-final on Wednesday, in which he scored.
The United boss explained: "He had a setback from the game when he returned. He thought he could build up, but yeah, he dropped a little back, so have to wait, be patient, not to force it."
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