Frank Christian
Manchester United capitalized on the controversy surrounding Matthijs de Ligt last Saturday to secure a 2-1 comeback victory against Brentford in the Premier League.
This win marked their third of the season, helping them climb to 10th place in the league despite initially trailing after Ethan Pinnock scored from a header during stoppage time in the first half.
The issue arose when De Ligt was not allowed to stay on the field to defend a corner, following an incident where he had blocked a cross from Kevin Schade.
Earlier in the match, De Ligt had made contact with Schade while trying to play a bouncing ball, resulting in a head injury that left him bleeding. He left the field for medical attention twice, but upon his return, referee Sam Bennott called him off again, leading to Pinnock capitalizing on inadequate marking during the set piece.
“We felt unfairly treated, and we used that to fuel our performance in the second half,” Ten Hag mentioned, praising Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus Hojlund for their impressive goals that secured the victory. “We upped our game and delivered two excellent goals. The second half performance was particularly enjoyable.”
Both Ten Hag and assistant coach Ruud van Nistelrooy received yellow cards due to their protests after Pinnock’s goal. The United manager believed De Ligt should have been allowed to continue playing since he was not actively bleeding at that moment.
“What he had was just dry blood. He had received treatment for the injury earlier, so it was confusing why he was pulled off,” Ten Hag stated.
“I spoke to Matthijs and he told me, ‘it’s just dry blood, I don’t understand why I must leave the field.’ Of course, it was critical because Brentford excels in set pieces, and losing one of our strongest headers leading to a goal is disappointing.”
When asked if this moment motivated his players, Ten Hag said, “It’s speculative, and we will never know. But we certainly felt anger and frustration at halftime.”
