September 17th 2023.
Rasmus Hojlund made an encouraging home debut in Manchester United's defeat against Brighton on Saturday. Despite the sobering 3-1 loss, Hojlund vowed that his side will "rise again" and took to Instagram to express his gratitude for the warm welcome he received at Old Trafford.
The Denmark international had made his mark on his first home game, having previously made a cameo against Arsenal prior to the international break. In what looked to be a hopeful moment for the Red Devils, Hojlund thought he had equalised with a first-half goal only for it to be disallowed by VAR for a narrow margin offside.
Unfortunately, Hojlund's afternoon was brought to an early end as he was substituted off by Erik Ten Hag shortly before the midway point of the second half. The decision was met with boos from the home crowd, something which Ten Hag deemed a positive.
"I think it was positive," he said. "You see the fans from the first moment at Old Trafford, the reception was great. He performed very well. I think it's good that they gave this signal, this message. It'll give him belief, Rasmus. But everyone knows he came with a small issue. We built him over last three, four weeks, he's not ready for full game."
When asked if the reaction could have been towards Anthony Martial's introduction, Ten Hag acknowledged that the Frenchman had a positive effect on games last season.
"At this moment he's not top fit and he's improving. I'm sure, when he is 100 per cent fit he will contribute again like last season," he said. "He has to make also his own luck and be available and be consistently available and then his form will be better. Every time last year when he was playing he affected our game in a positive way. I hope he stays fit and he will contribute to our game."
[This article has been trending online recently and has been generated with AI. Your feed is customized.]
[Generative AI is experimental.]
