Erik ten Hag was hired to bring the good times back to Manchester United and just nine months after his appointment, he is one game away from ending the club’s six-year trophy wait after a 2-0 win against Nottingham Forest on Wednesday sealed a 5-0 aggregate victory in the EFL Cup semi-finals.
United face Newcastle United in the final at Wembley Stadium on Feb. 26 for the English season’s first piece of major silverware.
“It is good to reach the final of course, but it is not about reaching the final, it is about winning it,” Ten Hag said. “It has to give huge motivation to us and we want to bring that cup” back.
Photo: AFP
Substitute Anthony Martial opened the scoring in the 73rd minute and Fred added a second in the 76th, with both goals set up by Marcus Rashford.
Manchester United won the first leg 3-0 at the City Ground last week.
“When you get this far you want to go one further. The damage was really done last week,” Forest manager Steve Cooper said.
Ten Hag has not made fans wait long for a first cup final under him.
The Dutchman took charge in April last year and was given the task of turning the club’s fortunes around after too long in the shadows of rivals Manchester City and Liverpool.
The EFL Cup was the earliest possible final he could reach and victory in the showpiece occasion later this month would further fuel belief that he is building a team capable of competing for the biggest prizes in club soccer again.
Manchester United have not won a trophy since 2017 when former manager Jose Mourinho triumphed in the EFL Cup and Europa League in his first season in charge.
While Ten Hag can emulate the Portuguese coach by also winning a trophy in his debut campaign with Man United, his ultimate challenge is to deliver Premier League and Champions League titles.
Those were standards set by managerial great Alex Ferguson and ones the team have not come close to meeting since his retirement in 2013.
Ten Hag is the fifth permanent managerial appointment since then and took over a team that finished sixth last season, 35 points below champions Manchester City.
A title bid was always unlikely this year, but Man United are in a strong position to qualify for the Champions League, currently fourth in the table and still competing in the FA Cup and Europa League.
“We have a good squad, so we have to demand and control the high standards. You have to bring that every game. We are Manchester United. When you are a United player you have to match the standards,” Ten Hag said.
For a club who have won an English record 20 league titles, an EFL Cup final is a long way short of their greatest achievements.
However, Old Trafford was in party mood in anticipation of a trip to Wembley.
Supporters expected Man United to comfortably complete the job after taking such a commanding lead into the second leg.
Yet Forest came close to opening the scoring in the first half, only for Emmanuel Dennis’ close-range shot to be blocked by teammate Sam Surridge when the ball looked destined to find the back of the net.
Manchester United striker Wout Weghorst then saw a header come back off the post.
Ten Hag made changes, bringing on Rashford, Martial and Jadon Sancho shortly past the hour mark.
It had the desired effect, with Rashford setting up goals for Martial and Fred.
However, they can expect a tougher challenge from a Newcastle team aiming to win their first major trophy since the FA Cup in 1954-1955.
Newcastle have been one of the biggest surprises of the season, sitting third in the Premier League, one place above Man United.
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