Erik ten Hag told Manchester United's Scott McTominay to exploit the space in Omonia Nicosia's box before his match-winning goal.
United welcomed Omonia to Old Trafford in the Europa League on Thursday night and it was a game they were expected to comfortably win, despite the contest between the two sides in Cyprus having been far from straightforward.
Although Ten Hag picked a strong starting line-up and United created plenty of chances, they struggled to break the deadlock as the game progressed, with Omonia's goalkeeper, Francis Uzoho, producing a string of outstanding saves.
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It seemed like the points were set to be shared, but McTominay scored a dramatic goal in stoppage time to prevent disaster. McTominay was brought on as a substitute in the 81st minute and, speaking after the game, he revealed what Ten Hag told him before he entered the pitch, with the Dutchman making it clear that there was space in the box to 'exploit'.
"Yeah, we knew that [we needed to win] going into the game," McTominay told BT Sport. "We knew they would be fired up, we know the manager well, Neil Lennon is obviously a great coach and we knew the way they would play.
"So, no games like this are going to be easy. It's a squad game like you seen with the lads that came off the bench against Everton and the game before that and tonight, it's what the manager wants, so everyone is pleased.
"You have to be patient. Marcus [Rashford] had so many opportunities, he's done everything but score, we hit the crossbar with Casemiro and the goalkeeper was different class, to be fair to him. I felt like we created enough chances to score.
"They were sitting deeper and deeper as the game went on, so there's a lot of space at the edge of the box and that was a place we wanted to exploit with shots, obviously I had three, one was not so good and two had a chance of going in.
"Watching, he [Uzoho] was outstanding, sometimes you think it's not going to be your day, but credit to the team, we've got a real good team spirit and fighting for your place every single week.
"[The goal] is massive for us, that's the message reiterated by the coaches, win the group, it's important for the games coming."
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