Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag hailed his players’ character after they came back from conceding a goal just five minutes into the game against Everton to record a 2-1 victory at Goodison Park.
Frank Lampard’s side went into the fixture unbeaten in seven matches in all competitions and got off to a perfect start when Alex Iwobi fired them in front early on but the visitors responded to condemn the Blues to their first home defeat since the opening day of the season with goals from Antony and first-half substitute Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ten Hag’s most-illustrious predecessor at Old Trafford, Sir Alex Ferguson – who was in attendance here – famously proclaimed that going to Goodison was “always a nightmare” but the Dutchman was pleased with side’s resolute nature, especially after losing the Manchester derby 6-3 at the Eithad one week previous. He said: “You see this team, attitude-wise, mentally-wise, are developing. I am happy with the process, we have to keep the process going.”
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The former Ajax boss added: “Criticism is normal after a defeat, especially in a big game like the derby so we have to deal with that but then you have to learn the lessons which is what I think we did. We’d already performed well I think on Thursday (United won 3-2 at Omonia Nicosia in the Europa League) and then today, the first 35 minutes were good in and out of possession.
“It was also good that you deal with a setback of going 1-0 down but I thought we responded much better by sticking to the plan, keeping composed and doing our jobs. We turned it around before half-time which was really good.”
Ten Hag also praised Ronaldo who came off the bench to score his 700th career goal at club level. The legendary Portuguese superstar left Goodison a frustrated figure last season after a 1-0 defeat – being probed by the police after slapping a phone out of a child’s hand (an action that would lead to a caution) – but he kept his cool on this occasion to secure the three points for the visitors.
His manager said: “That is really impressive when you score 700 goals. It’s a huge performance, I’m really happy for him, I congratulate him on that performance.
“I’m also happy that it’s his first goal this season in the Premier League and I’m sure there will be more goals coming. Every player needs it, even if you’re the best in the world, you need the goals.”
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