08 October 2023 , 05:00
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Erik ten Hag last night thanked his lucky stars he didn’t sell Scott McTominay after the Scottish star scored two injury time goals against Brentford to hand his Dutch boss a priceless win.
Ten Hag admitted he’d have let Manchester United’ s match-winning hero go in the summer if someone had stumped up the cash. United wanted £45 million for the 26-year-old star but bids fell short, leaving McTominay down the pecking order at Old Trafford.
But as United trailed to a first half goal from Mathias Jensen yesterday he climbed off the bench in the 87th minute and struck twice to ease the heat on Ten Hag.
“Every player has his price but he has a big value, sporting and also economic. No-one matched that value and I am happy to have a player like Scott McTominay in the squad. He is Man Utd in every way. Every minute he will fight for the team.”
McTominay was mobbed by delighted team-mates at the end of the game saying : “That might be one of my favourite moments on a football pitch. It was very loud when I came on, the fans were roaring us on so I couldn't fully hear but the manager probably said something like: 'Go on and score,' which I did.
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“There were no nerves, just never give up no matter the situation. At United it’s demanded that you never throw the towel in. I have been brought up here since I was five, I know that better than anyone.
Scott McTominay bagged a brace to land Man Utd three points (Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images)"Two goals at the death was incredible, but I am just happy to be able to contribute and show people that I can do it.
"It’s a massive win. Everyone knows we are in a difficult period at the minute, but we have fighters in the group that want to keep going right until the end. Hopefully we can build on that from here.”
Added Ten Hag : “These games give fuel to the dressing room. They know how far they have to go to get results. In football it is eat or get eaten. Too many times in the first half of this season we got eaten by opponents who are more hungry. This can’t be, it has to go away.
"Every player has to deliver that in every second he is on the pitch. That is the demand. We were not always determined on every occasion in games, and you get hammered for it. This has to change.”