Erik ten Hag dismisses Everton’s 23 shots: Man Utd had ‘much higher’ xG | Football

The Red Devils closed the gap to fifth-placed Tottenham to three points after a 2-0 victory over the Toffees at Old Trafford, with both goals coming from the penalty spot – one converted by Bruno Fernandes, the other by Marcus Rashford – after fouls on Alejandro Garnacho.

But, certainly in the first half, United had little control of the contest and gave up 23 shots while only having 15 themselves.

Incredibly, they have now faced 134 shots in their last six matches, with club legends Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand both of the belief that United’s porous back-line and wide-open midfield cannot provide a consistent or reliable platform to build a late top-four charge.

Ten Hag, though, insists he is not worried about the shot statistics from Saturday’s win, instead citing his team’s superior Expected Goals (xG) figure, and has suggested his side’s set-up is a deliberate tactic to give up low-quality chances.

Asked if it is sustainable for opponents to keep racking up over 20 shots in matches, Ten Hag replied: ‘Oh yeah, we do it already, I would say, for a long time and many more games.

‘If you see, their xG is not that high and ours was much higher.

‘But it was their gameplan, obviously, and we have players who feel comfortable to defend low.

‘But you have to be very disciplined and we coped with it very well.

‘It was a team performance, but especially our back four with the keeper, Andre [Onana], in the back, and Casemiro in the front, they have done very well.’

United racked up 2.56xG compared to 1.48xG for Everton, however the home side’s two penalties accounted for 1.56xG (0.78 apiece) meaning the Toffees actually had a better Expected Goals tally from open play.

Probed on whether, eventually, teams will start converting the shots United are giving up, Ten Hag hit back: ‘No, that is not true because they are low-quality chances.

‘You see the chances, and, yeah, they had some.

‘And also I think the way we defended set plays was very good. We were really well organised, really focused. Everyone did their job.

‘There were one or two second phases where they had some opportunities, but I think overall we did quite well.’

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