Manchester United lead the way in Europe’s top five leagues for goals scored by substitutes this season – a stat which perfectly highlights the tremendous influence of manager Erik ten Hag.
The Dutch tactician is doing fine work with Man Utd, who tonight beat Barcelona 2-1 to progress through their Europa League tie 4-3 on aggregate, with substitute Antony coming on and scoring a superbly-taken winner.
The Brazilian winger has been a little inconsistent in his first season at Old Trafford, but Ten Hag clearly knew when the right moment to bring him on in this game was, with his former Ajax player having the desired effect and scoring what could end up being one of the team’s most important goals this season.
19 – Manchester United have had 19 goals scored by substitutes in all competitions this season, the most of any big five European league side in 2022-23. Depth. pic.twitter.com/Bc8DqEXQin
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 23, 2023
Ten Hag clearly seems to have a knack of bringing on players and getting them to change games from the bench, and fans will hope that can continue.
For now, this impressive record has United still fighting in Europe, heading for a Carabao Cup final this weekend, and possibly still outsiders in this season’s Premier League title race.