Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag has praised his side for “finding a way to win” after the Red Devils beat Southampton 3-0 on the South Coast.
It was a shaky start for the away side at St Mary’s Stadium after Diogo Dalot gave away a penalty in the first half, only for Andre Onana to save Cameron Archer’s spot kick.
Minutes later, Matthijs de Ligt netted his first Manchester United goal, flicking a header in from Bruno Fernandes’ curling cross.
Marcus Rashford made it two before half-time, scoring from outside the box after doing well to shift the ball onto his right foot.
And Alejandro Garnacho netted with the last kick of the game to compound the Saints to another loss in their return to the Premier League.
Ten Hag appeared delighted after the match and praised his players for their resilience.
“We have to win every game” 🙌
Erik ten Hag talks Matthijs de Ligt, Marcus Rashford and injuries following Man Utd’s 3-0 win over Southampton
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He said: “We have to win every game and we did today.
“Sometimes you have to find a way to win. First minutes of the game we had some problems but after Andre [Onana] stopped the penalty and the goal by Matthijs de Light, the game was all ours.
“The start was not easy. I think the penalty was the turning point in the game and not so far after we scored and that was very important.”
It has been a rough period for both De Ligt and Rashford, who have been under scrutiny for their performances over the last 12 months.
But the Dutch manager jumped to the defence of both of them.
On De Ligt, he added: “I’m not surprised. At this moment he is not fit, he’s not at 100% speed. He needs the games to go up to it.
“We see glimpses now and once he’s there he will do much better. We are happy with him and especially today with his game.”
On Rashford, he said: “It’s very important. For every striker, they want to be on the scoring list. Once the first is in, more is coming.
“Once a striker was talking about a ketchup bottle, once it’s going, it’s coming more.”
United will have to be ready to go again in the week as they face Barnsley in the Carabao Cup before taking on Crystal Palace next weekend.
