"We are playing at home" - David de Gea reveals Ralf Rangnick's half-time message during Manchester United's win over Brighton
Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea has revealed what Ralf Rangnick told the players during half-time of their Premier League clash against Brighton and Hove Albion.
United and Brighton went into half-time goalless in the encounter at Old Trafford. But the Red Devils entered the second half with renewed vigor, scoring two goals to complete a 2-0 victory. Brighton being reduced to 10 men after Lewis Dunk was sent off, made things easier for the home side.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a well-taken first goal for the Red Devils in the 51st minute before Bruno Fernandes completed the win with a 97th-minute strike. De Gea has now revealed what Rangnick told the United players during half-time.
He told BBC Sport:
"The message [at half-time] was that we are playing at home and we pressed high in the second half. We controlled the game after the red card and there was a five minute spell when they came back."
He added:
"We should be fighting for more things than the top four, but that is the reality. There are many teams fighting for the same position and with the quality we have we should win a lot of points."
Clean sheet + three points = a happy @D_DeGea 😄🙌
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"Good performance by Cristiano" - Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick on Ronaldo's performance against Brighton
Cristiano Ronaldo brought an end to his goal-scoring drought in 2022 by netting the opener for Manchester United against Brighton. The Portuguese had opportunities to increase his tally for the night, but missed a couple of gilt-edged opportunities.
Rangnick heaped praise on Ronaldo after the match, claiming it was his 'best performance' of the last few weeks.
“That was an amazing goal. Not only an important one but an amazing goal. I think overall it was a good performance by Cristiano."
He added:
“Energetically, he was on there, he was always trying to help the team-mates so I think in the last weeks definitely the best performance by him and a very, very important goal for us,” Rangnick was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.
Just @Cristiano things 👏
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