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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Oisin Doherty

Richard Dunne and Brian Kerr praise Erik Ten Hag's second-half changes as Manchester United beat Barcelona

Richard Dunne and Brian Kerr both praised Erik Ten Hag's halftime changes as Manchester United came from 1-0 down to beat Barcelona 2-1 in the Europa League.

An early Robert Lewandowski penalty put Barca ahead on the night and 3-2 up in the tie. The La Liga leaders dominated the first half, with Wout Weghorst in particular struggling to impact the game.

Ten Hag replaced Weghorst with Antony at the break and pushed Bruno Fernandes into a more central position. The moves worked a charm, with Fernandes providing the assist for Fred's 46th minute equaliser, before Antony smashed home the winner with 17 minutes to play.

United hung on for the win thanks to some Trojan defending from Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez and will progress to the round of 16.

Not for the first time this season, Ten Hag's in game management has turned the tide when things weren't going well for United. Appearing as pundits on Virgin Media, both Dunne and Kerr praised Ten Hag's decision to replace Weghorst at the break and explained why United were much more dangerous in the second period.

"It allowed United to go long. Barcelona like to drop off and it allowed Fernandes to get on the ball to play it in and allows Fred to come and join them in the front line," said Dunne about United's first goal.

"I think when Weghorst is in that area, he takes up a lot of space with his stature almost, and his movement - he's not got a great amount of movement.

"There's just spaces that open up throughout the defence and fair play to Fred for spotting that."

Chiming in, Kerr said: "The four of them are more mobile without Weghorst when Antony came on.

"They're all busy, fast players that defenders don't like dealing with because they can run in behind, and if there's any kind of flick they're onto it."

Despite feeling United played better when Antony came on, the two praised Weghorst for his attitude and the work-rate that he showed in both last week's first leg and last weekend's Premier League tie with Leicester.

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