Erik ten Hag hints at Man United injury no one noticed in Chelsea defeat

Erik ten Hag has hinted at an injury that no one noticed during Manchester United’s 4-3 defeat against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Thursday evening.

United were 3-2 up in the 99th minute of the game and ended up losing 4-3 after two goals from Cole Palmer in the final moments of the clash.

It was a dreadful game not only in terms of the result, which makes Champions League qualification near-impossible, but also in terms of injury troubles.

Raphaël Varane was forced off at half-time with what looked to be a hip injury. He was replaced by Jonny Evans.

However, the veteran defender Evans also needed to be replaced just 20 minutes later after suffering an injury of his own.

“I cannot say at this moment,” replied Ten Hag when asked about the fitness of the defensive pairing.

The defence at Old Trafford is extremely depleted, with Lisandro Martínez, Victor Lindelöf, Tyrell Malacia and Luke Shaw also out of action.

Yet, the United boss has also suggested that there could be further troubles in the midfield. He has stated that Casemrio ‘had’ to come off against Chelsea and that the substitution did not help the team.

“We had to bring Casemiro out,” he said. “That doesn’t help in times like these. We need those kind of players to lead the way.”

The Brazilian has only recently come back from an injury setback sustained before the international break. He looked sluggish against Chelsea and received some criticism for his lack of mobility in the midfield.

Despite the injury struggles and heartbreaking result, Ten Hag believed his team were the better team.

“We started poor, giving the ball away and defending poorly for the first two goals and then we dominated the game and were brilliant,” he told TNT Sports. “We deserved to win this game but you can’t give it away like we did.

“We have to manage the last minutes of this game better. It is a team performance and you can point to players but it is a team. When it is chaotic you have to deal with it as a team.”