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Manchester United’s stunning come-from-behind FA Cup quarterfinal victory over Liverpool on Sunday came about from two unlikely substitutes.
It was great to see Antony finally vindicate his manager’s trust in him while Amad Diallo, who has been champing at the bit to play, will hope to earn more opportunities after a last-minute winner.
United have generally struggled to score goals this campaign with only 39 coming so far in the Premier League with the club on course to having their lowest-scoring season with the current record standing at 49.
The Red Devils had spent £64 million to sign Rasmus Højlund in the summer but Erik ten Hag always knew the folly of putting all his faith in the then-20-year-old who arrived on the back of one good season in Italy for Atalanta.
Rasmus’ exploits
With Anthony Martial perennially injured and Marcus Rashford struggling for form, the team became over-reliant on the young Dane who subsequently failed to score in his first 14 league games.
Despite finishing the Champions League group stages as the top-scorer, the Denmark international’s inability to bulge the net domestically meant a lot of unjustified criticism came his way.
And in an interview with TV2 Sport (via Evening Standard), the former Copenhagen star spoke of his initial difficulties while labelling certain sections who went in hard on him as “envious”.
“Of course, it bothered me a bit that people kept talking about this Premier League goal that hadn’t been scored, whereas not many people were talking about the fact that I was top scorer in the Champions League at the same time.
“I couldn’t quite get my head round that, I could feel the support from day one, but it’s clear that there are many who want to see you down because you’ve reached the level you’ve reached, and there are many who may be envious.”
All that changed on December 26 against Aston Villa when the Denmark international finally broke his duck with a fantastic first-time finish to hand all three points to the Old Trafford team.
The floodgates seemed to open since then, with Hojlund scoring seven goals in nine games while becoming the youngest to score in six consecutive league games.
“It was even nice to change that 0 to 1. There have been many positive comments, but there have also been some negative ones that I’ve had to sort through.
Social media use
“At first, it was a bit difficult to distinguish between one and the other. I’m from a generation where mobile and social media are read an insane amount.”
The player has consciously taken a call to reduce social media usage in the build-up to matches and that is obviously paying dividends.
United have a vast fanbase with differing opinions while quite a few fake their affection and it can get difficult to distinguish the real from the fake.
“I quickly realised that you rarely get anything out of either the good or the bad, so I quickly decided to put it away before a match.”
As long as he focuses on his game and keeps performing, the match-going fans and the millions around the world will always have his back
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