Matthijs de Ligt makes honest admission about Manchester United's performance vs Ipswich
Man United produced a spirited performance to beat Ipswich Town 3-2 at Old Trafford on Wednesday night.
Centre-back Matthijs de Ligt believes Manchester United demonstrated "some improvements" after beating Ipswich Town 3-2 at Old Trafford on Wednesday night.
Despite playing for more than a half with ten men following Patrick Dorgu's sending-off shortly before half-time, United navigated their way to a first Premier League victory in just over a month. Harry Maguire headed home a second-half winner almost immediately after the interval.
United fell behind after just four minutes when Jaden Philogene capitalised on a defensive mix-up from Andre Onana and Dorgu. However, the Reds responded and flipped the game on its head in next to no time via a Sam Morsy own-goal and De Ligt's first since September.
Dorgu's red card for a nasty challenge on Omari Hutchinson was soon exploited, with Ipswich drawing level in first-half stoppage time when Philogene's cross evaded everyone and found the bottom corner. However, United found a way to get the job done when Maguire headed in from a Bruno Fernandes corner.
"I think it was a hard fought win," De Ligt told MUTV. "As you said, the second half with ten men, fighting, even scoring, it was a really good achievement.
"It was a good game from us in the second half. I think in the first half we didn't even play that bad, we just conceded two silly goals. Obviously, this can always happen in football.
"In general, I think we made some improvements compared to the last game."
United will now switch their focus to Sunday's FA Cup fifth round tie with Fulham at Old Trafford and De Ligt believes the confidence gained from the win over Ipswich will be important.
He added: "Really important. This was a really important game for us. We know what situation we are in.
"If at half-time you are down to ten men and it's 2-2, obviously it is going to be a really difficult second half, so I think it's a really important win for us and hopefully we can continue against Fulham."