Erik ten Hag says Manchester United were left “mad and angry” at half-time after Matthijs de Ligt was forced to leave the pitch a second time for treatment following a head injury he sustained during their 2-1 victory over Brentford.
De Ligt, a €50million summer signing from Bayern Munich, was required to receive treatment on the Old Trafford sidelines for a head injury he picked up in the first half, having collided with Brentford forward Kevin Schade’s knee.
However, there was controversy as De Ligt, 25, had to leave the field again and during his absence, Brentford defender Ethan Pinnock headed in from a corner to give his team the lead just before half-time.
Ten Hag appeared furious on the touchline and received a yellow card alongside assistant Ruud van Nistelrooy for his reaction from referee Sam Barrott.
Under IFAB’s laws of the game, a referee must ensure that any player bleeding leaves the field of play. The player may only re-enter on receiving a signal from the referee, who must be satisfied that the bleeding has stopped and there is no blood on the equipment.
However, Ten Hag stated that he was left baffled at the decision, insisting De Ligt had “dry blood”.
“Pressure is always there, we have to win every game and when you are 1-0 down, you have to see how we turned it around. We felt some injustice and used it as fuel. I really enjoyed the performance,” Ten Hag said.
“It was dry blood so he was already treated for the injury. I didn’t understand why he was sent off. I went over to Matthijs and he said ‘it is dry blood and I have to come off, I don’t know why.’ A huge moment because Brentford is very good at corners and you miss one of your best headers.
“It is hypothetical, we will never know but definitely we were mad and angry at half-time. We had the idea, it was not perfect but we controlled the game. We didn’t concede chances, we created some and then injustice when you concede.”
Two second-half goals from Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus Hojlund ensured United picked up all three points on Saturday, easing the pressure on manager Ten Hag.
The Dutchman’s position has come under scrutiny following a poor start to United’s season, where they had scored just five Premier League goals prior to the Brentford win.
Ten Hag insisted he isn’t getting carried away with the result but is hopeful that his side’s fortunes will change moving forward.
“No it is just a win,” he added. “The last block we didn’t win enough but we only lost one game and that was when we were downsized to 10 (men against Tottenham Hotspur) and afterwards everyone agreed we shouldn’t be downsized to 10 so the only thing we had to do was score goals, we were in good spots but were not clinical and determined enough.
“What didn’t help was Rasmus Hojlund was injured at the start of the season but now is back. But we have enough players with scoring abilities and today we scored two great goals.”
The victory sees Ten Hag’s side climb to 10th in the Premier League.
(Top photo: James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)
