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5 months ago
29 Erik ten Hag waxed lyrical over Kobbie Mainoo’s performance in the FA Cup final as Manchester United beat Man City 2-1 at Wembley.
The Reds travelled to London as underdogs on Friday evening, with few pundits giving them any hope against Pep Guardiola’s Premier League winners.
City had aimed to complete the Double Double before Ten Hag and his players spoiled the party. The FA Cup returns to Old Trafford as a result.
Mainoo stands out
United’s two goals came from teenage stars Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo, with both players scoring in the first half.
Jeremy Doku pulled one back late on, but Ten Hag’s side held on until the very end.
Mainoo scored his fifth goal of the season and his performance was rated 9/10 in the Stretty News player ratings.
After the match, Ten Hag admitted the 19-year-old was “so enjoyable” to watch against City.
“He was really so enjoyable to watch, at his age, he’s an example,” Ten Hag said, as per BBC Sport.
“We wanted him to come in and he got a bad injury in pre-season.”
Ten Hag also urged pundits not to get carried away with their expectations for the young midfielder, especially ahead of Euro 2024 this summer.
Mainoo is expected to be part of the England squad and we all know how the press like to jump on United players involved with the Three Lions when things don’t go to plan.
“I think we have to keep it calm,” Ten Hag added. “Here in England you’re very good to push players too high and then you hammer them with one or two bad performances.”
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