Erik ten Hag urges Man United to be more ruthless in front of goal and to ‘kill inside the box’ after wasting several chances in goalless stalemate with Crystal Palace

Erik ten Hag has called on Manchester United to be more ruthless in front of goal, telling his players to ‘kill in the penalty area’.

Despite United beating Barnsley 7-0 in the Carabao Cup last week, they have scored just five goals in five Premier League games and failed to score in two of those.

United added further firepower in the summer by spending £36.5m on Joshua Zirkzee – having previously spent £72m on Rasmus Hojlund and £86m on Antony under Ten Hag – but the Dutchman believes they still need to be more clinical after finishing with a negative goal difference in the Premier League for the first time last season.

United missed a number of chances in Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace when Alejandro Garnacho and Bruno Fernandes hit the crossbar.

Asked if he was worried ahead of Wednesday’s Europa League opener against FC Twente, Ten Hag replied: “Worried? We create a lot of chances in the first games of the season,” the United manager said.

Erik ten Hag (left) has called on his Manchester United stars to be more ruthless in front of goal

United were guilty of wasting a number of chances in their goalless draw at Crystal Palace

‘Last week we scored seven against Barnsley and we are capable of scoring a lot of goals, but it is part of the game: we have to improve and score in the penalty area.

‘There are different aspects to this, the most important thing is that you create chances and we create a lot of good moments.

‘We are very creative, we have many chances to score. So keep this process going and work on finishing.’

Bruno Fernandes hit the crossbar at Selhurst Park, leaving United frustrated in front of goal