Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag snaps back at question after dramatic Fulham win - 'Did you see last season?'
Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag was thrilled after his side's narrow victory over Fulham
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Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has hit back at a question after his side's dramatic 1-0 win over Fulham on Saturday.
The Red Devils went into the game needing to respond after recent defeats to Newcastle and Manchester City.
United were flat throughout most of the match but picked up all three points late on through captain Bruno Fernandes.
The Portugal international lashed his shot into the bottom corner to spark wild celebrations in the away end.
Man Utd star Bruno Fernandes popped up with a dramatic late winner against Fulham
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After the game, Ten Hag was quizzed on why United looked so unconvincing as they battled their way to victory.
And the 53-year-old then hit back, insisting he's had to adapt his tactics as a result of the club's mounting injury issues.
“With all respect, did you see last season?" he retorted.
"Everyone knows why [we can’t play a style], we have so many injuries.
"You have to be more pragmatic, but I’ve always said that is never an excuse not to win games.”
He continued: "I’m sure we will improve as we get players back and today was a solid performance, you see a base, a foundation to build from.”
One player who stood tall for United, besides Fernandes, was defender Harry Maguire.
The centre-back has often been inconsistent in recent years but, over the past few weeks, appeared to have turned a corner.
Maguire sustained a head injury early on but remained on the field and produced a brilliant performance to keep Fulham at bay.
And he's earned praise on his manager as a result, with Ten Hag saying: "[He was good at] not only defending, with the ball very good progressive passing, through the lines, a very good performance."
While it was joy for United, it was pain for Fulham.
And Cottagers boss Marco Silva has admitted he was left frustrated at his side throwing the game away late on.
"It is difficult to believe but the reality is it did happen again against us," he said.
"It is something we clearly have to sort out, we have to keep the emotional control to the end of the match.
"It was a very good game from ourselves. A balanced game but we had a very good second half.
"You have to be clear on the game until the last minute.
"We have to be more assertive and much more ruthless in these types of moments because we had clear chances to score.
"They had one dangerous cross in the second half, after that they didn't have anything.
"We played well, we put them under pressure, we were on the front foot.
"Our second half performance was a very good level but we go with this feeling again where we played well but didn't get anything from the game."
Fernandes, meanwhile, was delighted that United were able to secure all three points and put recent defeats behind them.
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"With the goal you could see the belief of everyone, fighting for that ball," he said. "Everyone was fighting and at the end I could get the shot for the goal and the three points.
"It's really important, we know the position we are in. We need to get results, it was massively important for us to get the three points today.
"We need to get points to start building something, we have to start somewhere because we've got big games coming."
On Maguire, he added: "He was good, he was important for us today with the long balls.
"But we also need to give credit to Jonny [Evans] as well and Rafael [Varane] when he came on, he was ready to fight for the team."
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