The Red Devils came from behind to beat Aston Villa 4-2 on Thursday night with Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford, Bruno Fernandes and Scott McTominay booking spots on the scoreboard.
Erik ten Hag is hugely impressed by his boys after they fought back to restore their lead against Villians on their Carabao cup encounter.
Aston Villa almost produced another sensational victory against United in just days after they produced a stunning 3-1 score line to hand Unai Emery his first victory in his first job since returning to the Premier League but a strong fighting spirit from United saw them end the night ahead.
Manchester United are now into the next round of the Carabao Cup as Erik ten Hag sets his eyes towards his first trophy as United manager.
Speaking after the game, the 54-year-old made a honest judgement on his squad as he confessed they had slipped at a time in the game but still commended the fighting spirit that helped them getting back in front.
“Two halves are never the same, eh?” ten Hag said to MUTV. “But it is true, I will say, in the first half, we controlled the game, by good pressing and we won a lot of balls in the opponents’ half, but we just did the wrong things.
“We were really bad in transition, missing the pass and the runs in behind. We would pass the ball one step too late. So we missed a lot of opportunities in the first half and in the last part, in the last seven-eight minutes we were really sloppy on the ball and from the corners against us.
“At half-time, we said keep the pressing, but be more direct with the balls in behind their defense. Then we came back, kept the ball and fought back. I am really proud of the team after Sunday’s defeat and after two times we were behind. I am happy tonight.’
”They [our attacking players] have the capabilities to do that, but also Bruno [Fernandes], [Alejandro] Garnacho, and on the outside of the second phase with Scott [McTominay] with his runs, they have the capabilities to get in behind and they did well.
“We could see they played a high line and we said to play the ball in behind. I think we were quite successful with that in the second half. It was a real cup game. I enjoyed it, my players enjoyed it. Of course, we are happy we are in the next round.”