Scott McTominay has joked he’s “fuming” with himself after failing to score a hat-trick in Manchester United’s 2-1 win over Chelsea on Wednesday nightand shed some light on the mentality around Old Trafford.
McTominay starred in the Red Devils’ win over Mauricio Pochettino’s side on a cold night at home, managing to bag a brace with a goal in the first and second half to get his squad over the line, but he himself said he could have had more.
Speaking to MUTV after the game, the 26-year-old said he and the squad knew they needed to drum up a reaction after the Newcastle disappointment, adding that contributing more goals is something he wants to keep working on and insisting that plenty of people back him to do so.
Confessing that his mum, dad and grandad have all been encouraging him to “get in the box” and that he just needs to “believe in [him]self and go for it”, the Scotsman did go on to quip he was “fuming” to not grab a third as he shook his head went on to shake and reveal a wry smile.
Commentator and presenter Stewart Gardner went on to list McTominay’s impressive stats this season, having now scored 14 goals in his last 33 appearances for club and country. A seriously good rate from a midfielder typically entrusted to help link play and break things up in the middle of the park.
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Now boasting half a dozen goals and an assist across all competitions so far this campaign, he sits as the club’s leading goalscorer in the Premier League with five finishes to his name — with only Bruno Fernandes having contributed more (five goals and five assists) — he’s genuinely become one of Man United’s main goal threats.
While he recently rubbished talk that he played as a striker regularly coming up through the youth academy, simply having been deployed for the odd game in reality, he has always had a shot on him and it isn’t the first time he’s bagged a winner or a big goal for the Reds. This wasn’t a bad one either:
Chatting with the pundits on Amazon Prime Sport, he reiterated that he could have had “one or two more” on another night and agreed that the performance against Newcastle in the previous fixture was “pretty abysmal”, holding his hands up to admit that it was “no way near good enough”.
Reflecting on the later chance he had to seal the hat-trick towards the end of the game, he said he simply needed to “calm down on the last one”.
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As for the mentality to get the result during a difficult period where the club remained under a lot of scrutiny from pundits and fans alike, McTominay went on to say that the manager is responsible for the way they played and some “lighter training sessions to keep energy levels up” definitely helped.
Regardless, he was sure to not get ahead of himself and assured ten Hag‘s team were still taking things a game at a time. You can watch the full highlights from Manchester United vs Chelsea down below:
Featured Images — Scott McTominay (via Instagram)/MUTV
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Cole Palmer wins Premier League’s Young Player of the Year for 2023/24
Danny Jones
Manchester-born and bred footballer, Cole Palmer, has won the Premier League’s Young Player of the Year award for 2023/24 following a spectacular breakthrough campaign.
The ex-Manchester City youth product made his big-money move to Chelsea at the start of this season and has been comfortably one of the best players in the league this year, once again proving the old adage that if you’re good enough you’re old enough.
Sitting second in the race for the Golden Boot behind former teammate Erling Haaland and shining as one of the most creative midfielders in Europe in his first full season, you could have banked on him winning it months ago.
🔵⭐️ OFFICIAL: Cole Palmer wins the award as Premier League Young Player of the Year. 🧊
Chelsea star has scored 22 goals and provided 10 assists in Premier League this season. pic.twitter.com/HYpthQiOU3
Having bagged a hattrick in Chelsea’s remarkable turnaround against Manchester United as well as bagging four against Everton, just to name a couple of his most impressive performances over the past 12 months, he doesn’t like a player who only made a handful of appearances last year.
With the 22-year-old fittingly netting 22 goals not to mention 10 assists and quickly establishing himself as Mauricio Pochettino’s main man, despite the multi-billion squad assembled around him, it’s been nothing short of a remarkable emergence onto the biggest stage.
Having earned his first senior international call-up through his efforts too, he now looks set to be one the players England fans are dying to see start at the Euros – the point where many Blues are now wondering whether they made a mistake letting him go.
Congratulations to the Wythenshawe native on his well-deserved award and we sincerely look forward to seeing what he does in an England shirt this summer.
As for who will pick up the outright Premier League Player of the Year, surely Palmer picking up the youth award means that Phil Foden is set to mop up the main prize?
A clean sweep for Manc footballers. We like the sound of that.
Tom Aspinall vs Curtis Blaydes rematch confirmed as UFC’s main Manchester fight card is revealed
Danny Jones
Local fighter Tom Aspinall’s next opponent has finally been confirmed as the running order for the UFC’s return to Manchester has been revealed.
The Manc MMA star and interim heavyweight champion was always a certainty for his home event but with the main fight card for the UFC 304 at Co-op Live arena unveiled at last, we now know that the Salfordian will once again be facing off against Curtis Blaydes.
Not only will this be Aspinall‘s first title defence but it will also see the pair meet for the first time since their original 2022 bout was cut short just 15 seconds into the fight after the 31-year-old injured his knee and was unable to continue.
Civility aside, the two have had a score to settle ever since and judging by his reaction following the announcement, he’s clearly keen to finish what he started.
Now 14 wins into his career and with a belt to back it up, we’re expecting big things from the self-proclaimed ‘Honey Badger’ – especially with a name like that.
Fellow English fighters Leon Edwards and Scouse star Paddy Pimblett will all be joining Aspinall on the big night, showing just how much the UK MMA scene has grown.
Jamaican-born Brit Edwards, 32, is currently on a 13-fight unbeaten streak and will defend his welterweight title against American Belal Muhammad, who is also unbeaten in his last 10 fights.
Announcing the full 304 fight card on social media, UFC president Dana White described the Manchester crowds as “incredible” and there’s evident excitement around being the first sports event to grace the brand-new arena.
While there has been lots of criticism over the start times given that the fights will be taking place in the early hours for the benefit of American TV audiences, it’s still a huge deal to have the UFC coming back to 0161, especially with a Manchester native flying high at the top of the heavyweight division.
Not only is this the first time the franchise has been back to the city since 2016 but it’s also only the fourth time an event will have been held in the UK full stop.
Getting underway on Saturday, 27 July, Aspinall vs Blaydes II fight date is set to start at 3am local time and fans will be able to watch it live on TNT Sport.
As for those of you looking to go along and see the action in person, you can queue up to get your tickets HERE.