UEL 2022-23: 'Seeing Ronaldo get his goal was great' - Ten Hag after United's Sheriff rout

Manchester United registered an impressive 3-0 victory against Sheriff Tiraspol in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday. As Cristiano Ronaldo scored, Erik ten Hag expressed his delight at it.

English giants Manchester United continued its decent stint under head coach Erik ten Hag as it secured a comfortable 3-0 triumph over Sheriff Tiraspol at Old Trafford in Manchester on Thursday during the UEFA Europa League (UEL). As a result of this win, the Red Devils have secured their place in the Round of 32 alongside Spanish giants Real Sociedad, while the two sides are still in contention to top the table. Among the goal-scorers were Diogo Dalot (44), Marcus Rashford (65) and Cristiano Ronaldo (81), as the Dutchman expressed his pleasure in the latter scoring.

"Seeing Ronaldo get his goal was great. He created the team for him, and we know he can finish. He needed a goal, and now I'm confident there will be more goals. [The team's performance] was okay. Of course, you hope you score in the first half hour, so it took a bit long, but we deserved that goal. We scored two more good goals from open play in the second half, and I'm pleased with the clean sheet because we gave nothing away. It was a focused win," ten Hag told BT Sport.

What was also notable was that Brazilian striker Antony was substituted early in the opening half when the score was goalless. While it was supposed that it was for him doing a double spin, ten Hag clarified, "No. It was more or less planned if we were up. I wanted to see Marcus and Cristiano close together and the dynamic on the right side."

In the meantime, Rashford assessed the success and commented, "Not getting the first goal quickly leads to a mix between frustration and calmness. You must be calm to create chances and be clinical in taking them. Scoring before half-time was a big help, it allowed us to look for more goals and space, and we found them. It was about getting the job done."