How quickly fortunes can change in soccer. Just three points now separate the rivals after United beat Chelsea 2-1 and the defending champions lost 1-0 at Aston Villa on Wednesday to extend their winless run in the league to four games.
“We are on a journey. We keep calm... We are going in the right direction,” Ten Hag said after he put a difficult few days behind him with a morale-boosting win.
The Dutch coach had gone into the game on the back of a 10th defeat of the season at
“(We) Don’t get distracted from criticism around us, but we are very critical of ourselves,” he said. “We know we are not satisfied and happy. We always want to do things better.”
Two goals from Scott McTominay secured the win and moved United up to sixth — three points off fourth-placed City.
Ten Hag will likely face much greater tests than a Chelsea team that is still struggling from the hangover of a chaotic first season under the ownership of
But United’s manager would still welcome the change of mood around the club after such a troubled campaign, saying “we wanted to send this message to crowd.”
Now it is Guardiola who is facing tough questions as he was left to assess a winless run that saw City overtaken by Villa after
City's previous three games in the league ended in draws, allowing leader Arsenal to extend a six-point lead over it in the standings after a 4-3 win against
“In these years we have found a way to win games, but we struggled a bit and we have to find a way," Guardiola said. “It is my job to find a solution. The dynamic changes by winning games."
Villa's win saw it move up to third, two points ahead of last season's treble winners. Second-placed
Wilder returned to the relegation-threatened club on Tuesday, having taken the team up to English soccer’s top division in 2019 and to a ninth-place finish in the 2019-20.
But he has a fight on his hands to avoid the drop. Goals from
COOPER PRESSURE
Nottingham Forest may be six points above the drop zone, but a 5-0 rout by Fulham has heaped the pressure on manager
Forest has lost five of its last six games in the league and only won one in its last 11.
Eighth-placed
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