Erik ten Hag’s response to Jadon Sancho’s penalty miss for Manchester United in the Community Shield says it all.
United lost 7-6 to City in the penalty shootout after both Sancho and Jonny Evans missed their spot kicks.
In normal time, Alejandro Garnacho put United ahead at Wembley on 82 minutes, but Bernardo Silva equalised seven minutes later with one of just three shots on target over the 90 minutes.
While it wasn’t exactly a classic to kick off the season, the penalty shootout at least added an extra layer of drama.
And although Evans’ penalty was hit comfortably over the bar, Sancho was only denied by a fine save from Ederson, who pushed his spot kick onto the post.
The England winger was playing his first competitive fixture for United in nearly a year after he was exiled from the first team following a public dispute with Ten Hag last September.
He did not train with the first team for several months before moving on loan to Borussia Dortmund in January.
Now back at Old Trafford, Sancho and Ten Hag have resolved their differences, and the 24-year-old has been restored to the first team.
And the Dutchman appeared keen to draw a line under the miss in his post-match interview by backing his player’s penalty-taking abilities.
He told ITV Sport: “Yes, he’s a very good penalty taker, and today he missed. This is part of the game.”
"We have to believe that we can compete with City"
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) August 10, 2024
Erik ten Hag reflects on Man Utd's penalty shoot-out loss to Man City
🎙️ @gabrielclarke05 #ITVFootball | #CommunityShield pic.twitter.com/zxFLTikGPi
Attention will now turn to United’s first Premier League fixture of the season, which takes place on Friday.
Fulham are the first visitors of the season to Old Trafford, with Ten Hag potentially able to add two new signings to his squad for that clash.
The Athletic’s David Ornstein reports that United have agreed a double deal to sign defenders Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui from Bayern Munich for a combined fee of €60 million plus add-ons, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka close to moving the other way to West Ham for £15 million.
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