“I am the happiest man alive right now” - Rasmus Hojlund on ending Manchester United goal drought in Premier League
Manchester United forward Rasmus Hojlund expressed his joy after scoring his first Premier League goal in the side's 3-2 win over Aston Villa.
Speaking after the game, he said (via The Athletic):
“It has been a while but yes I am very happy. I am the happiest man alive right now. You can see from the celebrations as well. As the manager has said before, I have scored a few goals in the Champions League but of course it has been a while in the Premier League before scoring. Now I have got it and I hope I can just build on that and keep going."
“First-time finish in off the post, good finish so I’m happy. I’m happy for the three of us attackers as well because we showed a lot of character today, and a lot of confidence.”
Hojlund saved his first Premier League goal for a vital moment, scoring the third goal in Manchester United's come-from-behind victory. He found some space in the box from a corner and hit a first-time effort that hit the post before going in.
He had gone 14 games in the league without scoring since his arrival in the summer from Serie A side Atalanta. However, he had bagged five goals in the Champions League.
Erik ten Hag reveals half-time team talk after Manchester United complete comeback victory
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag opened up on what he told the team at half-time in their 3-2 win over Aston Villa. The Red Devils found themselves down 2-0 at the break before completing a stunning turnaround victory.
Speaking to Amazon Prime, he said:
"At half-time, I said to the team: 'Keep believing, and keep doing what we did, actually do even more'. We needed to put more and more pressure on. At 1-2 then, when we added pressure, you see what happened."
"I said before the game that we were competitive with Arsenal, competitive with Liverpool, so if we play our best, we can beat anyone. Believe that, even when you are two-nil down, it doesn't matter. Keep going, show character, and today, they did show we have the personality to do it. I think it was a very good team performance."
The first half looked to be more of the same as United's recent poor performances, with high-flying Villa taking a 2-0 lead through goals from John McGinn and Leander Dendoncker. However, Alejandro Garnacho scored twice before Rasmus Hojlund bagged his first Premier League goal to win the game.
The goal lifted some pressure off Manchester United who had gone four games without a goal. They moved two spots up the table to sixth in the Premier League and will face Nottingham Forest next on Saturday (December 30).