Gary Neville says Aston Villa and Tottenham can be “feeling the pressure” as Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag admitted his aspect had been “back in the race” for the highest 4.
United narrowed the hole on fifth-placed Tottenham to 3 factors with a 2-1 victory at Luton after Spurs had been overwhelmed at residence by Wolves on Saturday.
Ten Hag’s bettering aspect have now received 4 consecutive video games to sit down 5 factors behind fourth-placed Villa and Sky Sports activities’ Neville reckons they are going to relish the chase for Champions League soccer.
“You can feel Ten Hag is more confident in his team and that they’re in a better place,” mentioned Neville. “He’ll fancy hunting down Tottenham and Villa for the top four. They’ll be feeling the pressure.
“I am not saying Man Utd will get there however there’s a bit between their enamel.”
Rasmus Hojlund continued his scoring streak with two objectives within the opening seven minutes however United squandered alternatives to maneuver additional forward and Luton rallied.
“United deserved to win,” mentioned Neville “The second-half efficiency was higher and extra measured than the primary. The primary 10 minutes had been incredible however for half-hour Luton may have scored two or three. Luton’s last third allow them to down within the second half however United defended fairly properly.
“United were professional in the second half. They lost their discipline in the first half. (Harry) Maguire and Casemiro had to be hooked at half time. They were all over the place at times. That’s what they are, they are inconsistent.”
However United have discovered some kind with wins over Aston Villa, West Ham and Wolves which has obtained Ten Hag believing.
“We are back in the race and are building momentum,” mentioned the Manchester United boss. “We need to build the pressure on them. Every game is a final to get close.
“It may’ve been a straightforward recreation after 10 minutes however we made it a tough recreation as we did not take the possibilities. We had massive probabilities with (Alejandro) Garnacho and (Marcus) Rashford after which we dropped too deep. We allowed them again within the recreation.
“Maybe it was too easy in the first 10 minutes – you see with some players they go a little bit less, you can’t afford to do that against a side like Luton who are on an upward trend. You have to be 100 per cent focused and that’s what we lost after 10 minutes.”
Ten Hag revealed he took skilled duo Harry Maguire and Casemiro off at half-time as a result of he could not danger them being despatched off.
“I saw the reaction of the referees and I thought the next one [foul] they would go off,” he mentioned. “I didn’t take the risk. We had good replacements in (Scott) McTominay and (Jonny) Evans. It was the right decision as the performance of those two was very good.
The Manchester United manager also back Hojlund to continue his scoring streak.
“We recruited him as he is a powerful character,” added Ten Hag. “Though he is 21 he can actually carry out beneath stress. That is what you want as a Manchester United striker. He would not get nervous or lose confidence when he is not scoring.
“Once you are in a run, you see it, now he’s scoring and he’s in. That’s how he is now. He has a lot of confidence and I’m sure he’ll score more.”
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