MY ACCOUNT
Manchester United must demonstrate a greater clinical edge following their narrow 1-0 victory over Leicester, so says Christian Eriksen.
Having opened the season with back-to-back defeats, United made it three consecutive Premier League wins under Erik ten Hag, with Jadon Sancho’s 23rd-minute strike enough to settle the contest at the King Power Stadium.
Although fully deserving of their half-time lead, the visitors’ level dropped significantly after the restart. David de Gea made a tremendous save from James Maddison’s free-kick, while James Justin blazed a wonderful opportunity over in stoppage time.
But Leicester did not enjoy too many clear-cut opportunities, with United’s solid defence generally keeping the Premier League’s bottom side at bay.
And while Eriksen has urged his team-mates to capitalise when in the ascendancy, he is encouraged by the strides United are making after they recorded successive 1-0 wins in the space of five days.
“From the start we had, we had a lot of things we needed to change, and we’ve done that by winning,” he told BT Sport. “It hasn’t been beautiful for 90 minutes, but we have three wins.
“At the moment, we’re winning 1-0 and keeping it tight. Obviously, we want to do better, but I think this is a good start and we can take something from this. The three points is the most important.
“Similar to Southampton [on Saturday], we did very well until we scored. Then, we have to keep momentum, we have to kill the game earlier – otherwise, it’s going to be a tight game until the end like today.
“We’re looking good; we’re getting the points and we’re getting the base of what we need to do.”
Meanwhile, Sancho proved the matchwinner with his second goal of the season, having also netted in the 2-1 victory over Liverpool at Old Trafford, applying the finishing touch to a fine team move.
Sancho missed pre-season preparations ahead of his maiden campaign at Old Trafford due to an extended break after helping England reach the Euro 2020 final, and feels he has benefitted from getting a full pre-season under his belt this time around.
“It was a great team goal. I’m happy that I got the goal for the team, and got three points,” he said.
“Obviously, doing pre-season with the team [has helped me]. Last year, I missed pre-season, so I got to know the players a lot more [this year]. We’ve worked on [certain things], and I’m getting more comfortable.
“We hoped to start the season with two wins, but that woke us up. I’m happy that we got the third win today.”
