Erik ten Hag highlighted Alejandro Garnacho’s bravery, maturity and confidence after the Manchester United teenager made a goalscoring return after a two-month injury lay-off.
The nascent 18-year-old talent, who recently signed a new deal until 2028, received an excellent reception on his first appearance since sustaining an ankle injury against Southampton on March 12.
Garnacho was brought on in the 82nd minute and scored with a stoppage-time strike off the post in front of the Stretford End to wrap up a 2-0 victory against Wolves.
Ten Hag was happy with all his introductions after a few weeks when he said the “subs were bad”, but the Argentinian took the headlines after United got their top-four tilt back on track.
“Garna, of course, scored a great goal,” the United boss said. “He came in, he did I think almost everything good and then he scored a goal.
“That will give him belief and that is good for us for the rest of the season that he is back. It’ll give him confidence and he can have an impact.
“He is showing when you score some winners, like Fulham, assist against City, for instance. Now the second goal, he is showing some things.
“Also sometimes he lacks defensive transition, in pressing, he has to step up in such things. Also, when you are going into an action or keep the ball, so decisions.
“But I think when you see it all over, yeah, he is a huge talent and he’s brave.”
Garnacho arrived from Atletico Madrid in 2020 and was last season’s Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year having played a key role in United’s FA Youth Cup triumph.
The Argentina youth international frustrated Ten Hag during pre-season but has since won the Dutchman over, making 30 first-team appearances so far this campaign.
“One of the aspects from the biggest talent is that they are mature,” the United boss said. “First, they take responsibility and, second, they are mature.
“To bring in their skills, they have belief that they can dominate opponents and I think once again he did it.
“He has a big impact in many games either when starting or coming on, he’s ready, straight into the game and that is so important for the squad you can bring such players.
“I am happy that you can bring young players and hopefully he will progress so quickly that he can compete for a starting XI position because that is his next challenge.”
Garnacho’s strike was United’s 100th goal of the season in all competitions and complemented Anthony Martial’s opener in a 25th Old Trafford victory of the campaign.
The win was an important response to defeats at Brighton and West Ham, which had allowed Liverpool to close the gap in the race for Champions League qualification.
“You have to deal (with setbacks),” Ten Hag said, “Everyone told me in United it is never going in the easy way, we go the difficult way.
“I think the team was ready for this battle, for this fight.
“Once again, we make the goalie of the opponent the man of the match, so we could have made life easier if we score the second goal early on.
“But we have the points, we are happy with that and we move on.”
Wolves failed to muster a shot on target as their poor away form continued, leaving boss Julen Lopetegui frustrated.
“Obviously, the result was not good for us, but we tried to compete with them,” said the Spaniard, who praised goalkeeper Dan Bentley after making an impressive Premier League debut.
“In the context of the match, the first half, we suffered one goal in one mistake that we had and they didn’t have any more chances.
“In the second half, we take a risk, we dominate the game and had situations when we could have done better.
“In the end, it was a pity, we tried, but, in the end, they deserved to win.”
Getafe 0-3 Atletico Madrid: Griezmann treble seals Champions League qualification
Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann scored a hat-trick in a 3-0 LaLiga win at Getafe on Wednesday as Diego Simeone's side sealed Champions League qualification.
The France star opened the scoring in the 27th minute from Rodrigo De Paul's throughball and had his second shortly before half-time, flicking Samuel Lino's pinpoint pass past Getafe goalkeeper David Soria.
Griezmann completed his hat-trick in the 51st minute with a fine finish under Soria's legs, with Lino claiming his second assist by playing Los Colchoneros' all-time leading scorer into the area.
It was Griezmann's second hat-trick of the season, after he also netted three times in a 3-0 win at Celta Vigo last October.
With two games remaining, Simeone's side are now on 73 points in fourth, 11 ahead of fifth-placed Athletic Bilbao, who lost 2-1 against Celta Vigo on Wednesday.
Data Debrief: Griezmann repeats the trick
Griezmann is the only player to score two hat-tricks in LaLiga this season, and the only player to net a treble with all three goals coming on his left foot.
He might need to go even further to put himself in Golden Boot contention, though, with his 16 goals for this term putting him behind Artem Dovbyk (20), Jude Bellingham, Alexander Sorloth (both 19) and Robert Lewandowski (17).
Fernandes looking for strong finish to Man Utd's season
Bruno Fernandes says Manchester United must "finish the season in the best way" following their 3-2 win over Newcastle United.
The United youngsters played starring roles, with Kobbie Mainoo, Amad Diallo and Rasmus Hojlund getting all three goals to close the gap to Newcastle in the table.
Anthony Gordon and Lewis Hall both netted for the Magpies, with the latter setting up a nervy finish with his stoppage-time effort, but their lack of clinical edge meant United earned all three points.
Erik ten Hag’s side avoided a third consecutive defeat, and what would have been a record-breaking 10th home loss of the season, and Fernandes insists they must find a way to finish positively.
Speaking to Sky Sports, the United captain said: "Obviously the job isn’t finished yet. We still have one game in the Premier League, then the biggest game of the season, the FA Cup final.
"It has been a tough season. The table shows that, and we are all aware of that. The fans have been amazing and behind us all season. We all appreciate what they have been doing for us.
"We want to do better and do differently. They [fans] have been amazing for us, and we had to do something. We have been trying, but results don’t show that. We have been working hard and everyone has been giving their best. It is not enough, and we have to do more.
"We still have two games to go, and we have to finish in the best way.
"It doesn’t exist, a captain's performance, it is a team performance. I am no different from anyone just because I have the armband. I always try my best, and we always do the best we can for the club – nobody hides that we play for a big club, and we have to lift our standards every game."
Despite returning to winning ways, United have now conceded 58 Premier League goals this season, their most across a single campaign in the competition.
Ten Hag was keen to turn the focus away from their struggling defence and onto the attacking players instead.
"Fantastic. Great goals. But it was a team effort how we made the goals. But I'm always happy at young players who are progressing very good and scored some brilliant goals," he told BBC Sport.
"Newcastle have a lot of physical power, and you have to match that, but you also have to play football. We had found the really good balance in this.
"It's always nice to win any game. It's important to win the last game at Old Trafford this season. The fans deserve this because they've had difficult times and always stayed with us.
"We are here together. We wanted to pay the fans back."
JPL finalists Mount Pleasant, Cavalier join teams from T&T, Dom Rep as early qualifiers for Concacaf Caribbean Cup
Reigning Jamaica Premier League champions Mount Pleasant FA and Cavalier FC have booked spots in this year’s Concacaf Caribbean Cup where they will again challenge for a berth in next year’s Concacaf Champions Cup.
By virtue of setting up a repeat of last year’s final, Mount Pleasant, hunting their second local top-flight title, and Cavalier, seeking redemption from last season’s defeat, joined three other clubs from Dominican Republic and Trinidad and Tobago as early confirmations.
This will be Mount Pleasant’s debut in the Caribbean Cup and first appearance in a Concacaf tournament, while Cavalier makes a return after an unbeaten run in the group stage, before finishing as runner-up to Suriname’s Robinhood FC. It also and earned them a debut appearance in the Concacaf Champions Cup.
From Dominican Republic, Cibao FC, will make its second appearance in the Caribbean Cup as the 2023 league champion from the Dominican Republic. Cibao has become a regular to Concacaf competitions, appearing in the 2018 Champions League and the 2020 and 2022 Concacaf League.
Based in Santiago de los Caballeros, Cibao became the first team in the history of the Dominican Republic to secure an official international title when they won the 2017 Concacaf Caribbean Club Championship.
Meanwhile, Moca FC, also out of Dominican Republic, returns for a second crack at the Caribbean Cup due to their standing in the 2023 season. Moca reached the semifinals in the previous edition and won the third-place match to qualify for the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup, making its debut earlier this year. Gustavo Ascona is the club’s all-time leader with four goals in the competition.
Trinidad and Tobago’s AC Port of Spain will make a second appearance in the Caribbean Cup. The club will be aiming to achieved new milestones by getting their first win in the tournament and, by extension, secure a first Concacaf Champions Cup participation.
The remaining clubs in the annual 10-team tournament –that crowns a Caribbean champion and determine participants from the region for the Concacaf Champions Cup –will be determined as their respective nations wrap up their domestic seasons.
A draw will be held on June 6 to divide the teams into two groups of five.
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