Erik ten Hag spoke post-match regarding Alejandro Garnacho’s fitness and substitution.
The 18-year-old was showing his pace and exhilarating attacking ability before Southampton’s Kyle Walker-Pieters cut off the attack by tackling Garnacho, which the referee deemed a fair challenge.
Garnacho then stayed on the floor for several minutes writhing in pain and received treatment from the physio team. After coming back onto the pitch to try and contribute to that elusive opening goal, he looked to be struggling when navigating his way around the field.
Ten Hag then opted to bring the youngster off in injury time, just minutes after he was initially substituted on to replace Jadon Sancho.
The Argentinian was spotted leaving Old Trafford after the game on crutches, sparking concern amongst the United faithful. Fans are currently witnessing Garnacho’s breakthrough season and an injury would be a huge blow to the player and club.
Ten Hag on Garnacho
Post-match, the manager provided an update to MUTV, saying: “He was a little bit limping after the bad tackle. In the end, they brought on another striker, a big and tall one [Paul Onuachu] and I don’t want to go for risk, we were already downsized to 10 [men]. I didn’t want to go with players who were [just] 90 per cent. That’s why I called him off but I think it is not too bad.”
