Manchester United endured a miserable day in Los Angeles on Saturday as Rasmus Hojlund and Leny Yoro were both forced off during their 2-1 defeat to Arsenal. But, despite the result, Red Devils boss Erik ten Hag insisted he was “very pleased” with what he had witnessed.
The Gunners came back from a goal behind to clinch victory after Hojlund had opened the scoring in the 10th minute.
Gabriel Martinelli completed his side’s turnaround with nine minutes remaining after Gabriel Jesus had levelled the scores midway through the first half.
Hojlund looked sharp in the early stages of the match as he forced two saves from Arsenal goalkeeper Karl Hein. And the Denmark international then held off a challenge from Ayden Heaven to race through and get United off the mark.
But Hojlund appeared to tweak his groin just moments later after missing the target from close range and headed down the tunnel after initially being assessed on the pitch by United physios.
Teenage defender Yoro, who completed a £59million deal to move to Old Trafford earlier this month, was then taken off with an injury 10 minutes before the interval.
The result means United have now lost two of their three pre-season friendlies, with their clash against Arsenal coming after a 1-0 defeat to Rosenborg in Norway and a 2-0 victory over Rangers in Scotland.
And after the 2-1 reverse, Ten Hag explained: “I think [the game] was a very good level for the third week of pre-season, from both sides – but in the first half I thought we were the better team.
“We scored a very good goal, a very good ball in behind from [Marcus] Rashford and then Hojlund with a very good move and a finish, I was very pleased. We also created some more good chances and we then conceded the goal, which was offside.”
Ten Hag was also quizzed about the injuries to Hojlund and Yoro, with the Red Devils travelling to face Real Betis at the Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego on Thursday.
And the Dutchman added: “Of course it is too short [to know about their injuries] and we have to wait over 24 hours, then we will hopefully know more. We were careful especially with Leny as he only did 50 per cent of the [training] sessions. He has to come up but let’s be positive and see what comes out.
“It is a short slot and we are there quickly – so we have to prepare the team. We must be ready and of course we have to recover from this and then go again.”
