Matthijs de Ligt has allayed fears he suffered an injury during the closing stages of Manchester United’s convincing 3-0 win against Southampton.
The Netherlands international endured a difficult fortnight during the international beak having encountered severe criticism for his performances against Bosnia and Germany.
Erik ten Hag, however, kept faith with the 25-year-old and that confidence was repaid with a commanding display at the heart of United’s defence, capped by his first goal for the club.
It could have been a different story had the home side taken advantage of their early dominance and United were indebted to Andre Onana when he saved Cameron Archer’s 33rd minute penalty.
Salt was rubbed into the Saints’ wounds moments later when De Ligt headed home Bruno Fernandes’ teasing cross and three points were virtually sealed before half time when Marcus Rashford scored his first goal since March.
Alejandro Garnacho put the cherry on the cake in injury time, shortly after De Ligt had taken his place on the bench.
With Lisandro Martinez and Harry Maguire appearing to have picked up injuries, Ten Hag would have been relieved to hear his former Ajax charge was only nursing a touch of cramp.
De Ligt said: ‘I’m fine I just had a little bit of cramp the last five minutes. It’s the first time I think in five months that I played three times in a row.
‘I wanted to play until the end but the coach said it would be better to take me off.’
Asked how he had dealt, meanwhile, with the criticism he faced in midweek, De Ligt added: ‘Not exactly a point to prove, sometimes it doesn’t go as well as you want but you have to look at the positive side.
‘I was happy I played one and a half, it’s a long time since I played games. This is my third game in a week. For me it’s important to get rhythm and I can show a little more what I can do.’
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