Erik ten Hag points finger at defence after Manchester United defeat to Brighton
Brighton snatch last-gasp win after Zirkzee 'misfortune' denies Man Utd
Erik ten Hag criticized his defence after Manchester United suffered a late 2-1 defeat to Brighton in the Premier League.
Joao Pedro scored deep into injury time to secure a deserved win for the hosts, following Amad Diallo’s equalizer to Danny Welbeck’s earlier strike.
Pedro, who had been a threat throughout the game, was left unmarked at the back post, heading in Simon Adingra’s cross.
Ten Hag pointed to four players for their role in the goal, citing Antony’s weak tackle, which allowed Adingra to create space in the box, while Diogo Dalot, Kobbie Mainoo, and Noussair Mazraoui failed to close him down before the cross was delivered.
“We didn’t stop the cross,” Ten Hag said.
“There were three players. [Adingra is a] right-footed player, send him down the line, send him wide instead of letting him come in and let the cross.
“We have, of course, to talk about this.”
Ten Hag added: “I think there were some very good parts in the game.
“We had a lot of control in possession, we created good chances, we showed resilience, we came back and then we scored what we thought was a winning goal – so [it was] bad luck that the ball was on the line just before the line.
“It’s touched by [Joshua] Zirkzee so that’s a pity, you have to take this, it’s a disappointment but I can take a lot of positives from the performance.
“We have to learn, you can’t drop points so unnecessarily.
“If you protect the goal like we do, then you drop points. Football is about details.
“We have to do better in such occasions.
“We needed to be more clinical in both boxes and how we concede the goals is very soft.
“It shouldn’t have happened, we should be better organised in such moments.
“Also on the other hand, on the other side, when you create the chances we did, we should score more goals – especially the one with the overload, where everyone thought it was a goal [the disallowed effort in the second half].
“We need to be consistent so that is a step backwards.
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