Manchester United's Diogo Dalot, Matthijs de Ligt and Leny Yoro celebrate after Sam Morsy scored own goal for Ipswich Town. Getty Images
Manchester United's Diogo Dalot, Matthijs de Ligt and Leny Yoro celebrate after Sam Morsy scored own goal for Ipswich Town. Getty Images
Manchester United's Diogo Dalot, Matthijs de Ligt and Leny Yoro celebrate after Sam Morsy scored own goal for Ipswich Town. Getty Images
Manchester United's Diogo Dalot, Matthijs de Ligt and Leny Yoro celebrate after Sam Morsy scored own goal for Ipswich Town. Getty Images

Matthijs de Ligt hails Man United fighting spirit ahead of 'most important phase of the season'


Andy Mitten
  • English
  • Arabic

Any port in a storm. Manchester United, who had won only one of their previous six home Premier League games, enjoyed a much-needed win against struggling Ipswich Town on Wednesday at Old Trafford.

United’s forwards are proving to be goal-shy and all three of those goals were scored by defenders: Matthijs de Ligt and Harry Maguire, with an own goal sandwiched in-between.

But it was not a straightforward win. It never is under coach Ruben Amorim. Since the Portuguese took charge in November, United have conceded the first goal in more matches (12) than any other Premier League side.

“Obviously not the best start,” defender De Ligt told The National. “Also a red card first half and 2-2 going into half time, obviously it is not easy. But if you win 3-2, in the end I think it’s a really good performance. It was a show of team spirit.”

New signing Patrick Dorgu was dismissed for a red card tackle on Omari Hutchinson. The £29.4 million January signing was also involved in a mix up with goalkeeper Andre Onana as United conceded after four minutes.

“Yeah, a difficult evening [for Dorgu],” admitted De Ligt, “but everybody has had these evenings before and I think the first goal was a little bit unlucky. It was a miscommunication and that can happen. He’s just new [to the club] and it’s not easy.

“I’ve had in the past several of these moments, so he shouldn’t worry about that. And then the red card, also a little bit unlucky. But for the rest, he played a good first half; he was really energetic and had some good runs in behind, so he will learn from this.”

United, who move up a place in the Premier League to 14th ahead of games against Fulham in the FA Cup and Real Sociedad in the Europa League, went into half time at 2-2 and with 10 men.

Asked what his coach said to the team at the break, De Ligt said: “He said we were still in the game. Obviously we conceded two goals, but I never had the feeling they had so many big chances or like they were getting close to our goal.

“The message was also to keep believing and also to be brave in the second half and I think you could see that immediately with the corner kick that we got, and we scored to make it 3-2, so that was the message.”

United went from enjoying 61 per cent of possession in the first half to 27 per cent in the second after the red card.

“The most important thing was that even with 10 men, we kept pressing and that’s so important for defenders because if the team is pressing it’s so much easier for defenders,” added De Ligt. “The second half you could see that and it makes the job easier for us.”

United are now 16 points clear of the relegation zone, with the three promoted teams seemingly destined for an immediate return to the second tier.

“To be fair, I don’t see it that way,” said the Dutch defender. “I see it more in the way that we are going through a really important phase now, with the FA Cup and Europa League coming up, and obviously the Premier League also.

“This is a really good start to getting to that phase, but we are still in two really important tournaments alongside the Premier League, so I see it as the beginning of the most important phase of the season.”

Old Trafford’s crowd helped on a night of filthy Mancunian weather. “I felt the crowd,” said De Ligt. “Obviously, the start was not the best, but we scored really quickly to make it 1-1, which made a big difference.

“Then 2-1 also came afterwards, so we really felt the crowd pushing us and helping us today, and then you saw the confidence of the players in duels but also taking players on was much better tonight. So hopefully we can keep on going like that.”

It was an occasion when United showed some fighting spirit, to which De Ligt said: “This season, if you saw us play against Liverpool, who are most likely champions of this season.

“If you see us play against [Manchester] City, these kind of games, or Arsenal with 10 men, you see we have a lot of quality and if the spirit is there we can make it difficult for everybody.

“The only thing is sometimes in games we feel a little bit off and we make it so much more difficult for ourselves and it’s an amazing league, so you cannot have a day off. Hopefully we can build on this and get more results.”

Manchester United being this low in the table is not only new to most fans, but the players too. “It’s a really big club,” said De Ligt. “I’ve never had to play for … like we’re now 14th in the standings and the worst I’ve been is fourth, so that’s brand new for me, but you learn a lot from it and today was really important.

“Hopefully we can build on that and give the players more confidence to do it.”

Volvo ES90 Specs

Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)

Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp

Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm

On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region

Price: Exact regional pricing TBA

All the Money in the World

Director: Ridley Scott

Starring: Charlie Plummer, Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Williams, Christopher Plummer

Four stars

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
Rating: 4/5
World Test Championship table

1 India 71 per cent

2 New Zealand 70 per cent

3 Australia 69.2 per cent

4 England 64.1 per cent

5 Pakistan 43.3 per cent

6 West Indies 33.3 per cent

7 South Africa 30 per cent

8 Sri Lanka 16.7 per cent

9 Bangladesh 0

Lexus LX700h specs

Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor

Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm

Transmission: 10-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh590,000

Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
  • Priority access to new homes from participating developers
  • Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
  • Flexible payment plans from developers
  • Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
  • DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Updated: February 27, 2025, 12:55 PM`