Aditya Bose
Substitute Christian Eriksen played a crucial role in securing Manchester United’s much-needed victory in the UEFA Champions League
Speaking in the post-match presser as quoted by Manchester Evening News, Erik ten Hag claims Manchester United midfielder Christian Eriksen who came on in the second half played a pivotal role in helping United win.
Beyond the crucial addition of Christian Eriksen at halftime in their Champions League victory against Copenhagen, Manchester United made other tactical changes. With the score tied at zero goals, Eriksen entered the game at halftime for the third straight game at Old Trafford in place of Sofyan Amrabat.
Under Erik ten Hag, Maguire has made three consecutive starts, and United have won each of them. In place of the injured Leandro Martinez, the 30-year-old continued his comeback by scoring his first goal for the team since February 2022.
United enter the derby just six points behind triple champions City, who play Young Boys in Bern on Wednesday.
Eriksen said:
“He was part of it, definitely. I think our build-up got fluid, more fluid, once he came in. But we made some adjustments in other positions, in other constructions and cooperations.”
“But Christn iadefinitely played a big part in that. His timings were good to get free and on the ball his decision-making was good and the best example was the assist for Harry Maguire’s goal.”
Now that the Dane has entered the game at halftime in three straight Old Trafford encounters, he has altered the course of play for the second straight game. Against Sheffield United and FC Copenhagen, United’s performance has significantly improved because of his undeniable skill with the ball and his ability to play line-breaking passes.
Although United’s midfield hasn’t played well this season, that wasn’t the case against FC Copenhagen once Eriksen came in. United started the game poorly and slept walked the opening forty-five minutes.
He needs to start this weekend’s match against Manchester City. Eriksen hasn’t played this brilliantly since before his ankle injury in January, but with Casemiro returning, he will resume holding duties. He was a key component of this team’s success in the first half of the previous campaign, and he appears to be returning to that level.
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That may mean Mason Mount staying on the bench and McTominay being benched, but Eriksen deserves a chance to start following his heroics as a substitute. Even though we needed to rely on Andre Onana’s outstanding penalty save, it was the Dane who shifted the tide of the match in our favour.
