“He brings football” – Ten Hag hails Manchester United star for game-changing involvement in ‘narrow escape’ against Copenhagen

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag hailed Christian Eriksen's impact in their recent 1-0 UEFA Champions League win over FC Copenhagen. The Denmark international came on at half-time for Sofyan Amrabat and assisted the Red Devils' only goal, scored by Harry Maguire in the 72nd minute.

Ten Hag's side seemed toothless for the majority of the game at Old Trafford and it took a last-gasp penalty save from Andre Onana for them to take all three points.

Talking to the media after the game, the Dutch tactician highlighted how Eriksen's introduction changed the game in their favor. He also pointed out that his team were struggling to make the right passes in the first half, which changed after the Danish midfielder's arrival.

"Very important, Christian is always positive. He brings football and we did not have the football in the first-half - Copenhagen are well organised and you have to break them. Christian Eriksen makes the right passes," he said (via BBC).

He added on the team's overall performance:

"Of course it is incredible and a great night. Especially in the dying second when you concede a penalty, but a brilliant save from Andre Onana. Those players, Harry Maguire played a good game and Andre Onana as well. He made an important save just after half-time.

"A poor first-half, but we stayed calm and in the second-half we stepped up and made more chances than them. It was a narrow escape in the end."

On top of assisting Maguire for the game's only goal, the former Tottenham Hotspur playmaker completed 26 out of 29 attempted passes(90% passing accuracy) and also had a shot on target.

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag blames lack of consistency on defenders' injuries

The win over Copenhagen at Old Trafford marked the return of defender Raphael Varane to the Manchester United starting XI.

The Red Devils are still missing Lisandro Martinez, who has been sidelined for a lengthy period after aggravating a metatarsal injury. He previously underwent surgery for the same injury in April 2023, and was ruled out for the rest of the season

Martinez has already missed 21 games since his surgery this year, and has been sidelined for 119 days so far since his surgery. Varane has already missed 4 games this season, although the two-week long September international break ensured he did not miss more games.

Highlighting how constant chopping and changing in the backline has prevented them from getting consistent results, Ten Hag said after the win (via BBC):

"Of course every time we have to change the back line, if you look back to last year we had a very good back four and so consistent, with Casemiro in front all the time we controlled the ball.

"This season every time we have had to swap the back four and then the routines go away and the midfield opens up, and we struggle to get the right balance.

"We have seen games this season where we have not had good possession and we lose control in midfield. But, I am sure when we get the routines back in the back four it gives the team a foundation to play off."

Manchester United next face local rivals Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday, October 29.