Erik ten Hag praises Man United’s ‘resilience’ after fighting back to secure a draw against Athletic Bilbao, but admits they conceded a ‘stupid’ opening goal
- Man United drew 1–1 against Athletic Bilbao in their final pre-season friendly game
- A second series United side went down 1–0 with Harry Maguire at fault
- According to Erik ten Hag, the team showed character after Facundo Pellestri’s equalizer
Erik ten Hag praised Manchester United’s character after they fought back from a ‘stupid’ goal to end their pre-season campaign with a draw against Athletic Bilbao.
Facundo Pellestri’s stoppage-time equalizer, set up by Harry Maguire, secured a 1-1 draw against 10-man Bilbao at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
However, for the second time in 48 hours, they had to come from behind after Maguire’s mistake gave the LaLiga team a first-half lead.
Ten Hag said on the club’s official website: “In one weekend we lose twice, but you can see that this team has character and you need that in a season.
‘Sometimes you are down and then you have to show resilience and it is precisely at such moments that you need determination. We showed this weekend that it was a good weekend for us.
Erik ten Hag praised Man United’s ‘resilience’ to secure a draw against Bilbao, but admitted his side conceded a ‘stupid’ opening goal
“Yesterday I thought it was a very good level, today I also saw very good spells.
“I think the start of the game was really good too and we should have scored a goal to go up because it was a great chance from Jadon Sancho.
“We also had some good moments afterwards and it was stupid how we went down, but like I said, we had a result and we came back, so it was a good weekend for us.”
Maguire, who was replaced as United captain by Bruno Fernandes during a summer filled with speculation about his future, was included as one of 11 changes to the side that beat Lens 3-1 at Old Trafford on Saturday, but there was no place for injured £72 million signing Rasmus Hojlund, a day after he was presented to the club’s fans.
Although Ten Hag’s men got off to a perfect start when Pellistri Sancho played behind the Athletic defense after four minutes, his attempt was blocked by goalkeeper Unai Simon.
Goalkeeper Tom Heaton was called up to claim Inaki Williams’ 15th minute strike when the Spaniards responded and thought they had been given a 25th minute penalty, seconds after United saw their calls waved off at the other end.
Harry Maguire was guilty of a foul when Oihan Sancet took advantage of his mistake
But United hit back when Facundo sent home Pellistri from a Wan-Bissake cross – and Ten Hag insisted his side ‘don’t give up’
Referee Neil Doyle initially pointed to the spot after Nico Williams was brought down by Alvaro Fernandez, but the referee changed his mind and awarded a free kick, which Heaton handled comfortably.
However, the LaLiga side took the lead in the 29th minute when Oihan Sancet took advantage of Maguire’s misstep to feed Nico Williams, who shot past the advancing goalkeeper.
Eighteen-year-old Dan Gore put Simon to the test as the second half got under way with neither side taking a step back.
But Bilbao’s hopes of retaining their advantage were dented with 24 minutes left when last man Aitor Paredes was shown a straight red card for bringing back Hannibal Mejbri after conceding possession to the Tunisian midfielder.
Hannibal passed up a glorious chance to level the score when he volleyed the ball off Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s cross, but redemption came deep into stoppage time when Maguire headed another Wan-Bissaka delivery for Pellistri to usher in the equalizer .
Ten Hag said: ‘We are not giving up. We fight to the end. In the end we got the equalizer and I thought it was right.
“We wanted a good result to close the pre-season well.”