Man United 1 Shakhtar Donetsk 0: I was tough at half-time, says Moyes
Man United 1 Shakhtar Donetsk 0: David Moyes admits he was "tough" on his players at half-time after Red Devils top their group
David Moyes admits he was “tough” on his Manchester United players at half-time before Phil Jones’ winner helped the Red Devils beat Shakhtar Donetsk and top their Champions League group.
After a goalless first half, Jones volleyed home from a corner in the 67th minute to ease the pressure on United after a difficult week in which they stuttered to successive home defeats in the Premier League.
The win left United top of Group A, four points ahead of second-placed Bayer Leverkusen, and Moyes was delighted with his side’s performance in the second half after the visitors threatened a number of times before the break.
“We wanted to top the group and we have. The win helps us, improves our form, ” said Moyes.
“We didn’t play well for 30 minutes and they had two or three opportunities. In the second half it was much better.
“I was tough with them at half-time but we needed to be, we need to win games.”
He continued: “A club like Manchester United has to be trying to win the trophy, that’s their job. You have to get better as the tournament goes on. It’s a tough competition, a hard one but we will take it one game at a time.”
Meanwhile, match-winner Jones is hoping the Red Devils can use the win as a platform from which to improve their results.
“At half-time the manager just told us to pass the ball better,” said Jones.
“We know we’ve had a disappointing couple of weeks and we hope that we can kick on from this now. We needed the win, but the fans were excellent tonight.”
