Manchester United ace Tyrell Malacia is back in the good books after latest performance

Manchester United defender Tyrell Malacia redeemed himself at the weekend with a big performance at the weekend.

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is supportive of his players, but he also has to show he cannot tolerate poor performance.

This has seen Tyrell Malacia placed in the ‘doghouse’ in recent weeks after his error in the home draw with Sevilla.

Malacia’s negligence in the second half saw him fail to clear a cross, and then deflect the resultant ball in for an own goal. It was the trigger point for Sevilla to come from two goals down to win the the tie.

Malacia back in the good books
Malacia was immediately dropped after the home draw with Sevilla. Even with Luke Shaw battling injury and then required at centre-back, Ten Hag found a way not to play him.

Diogo Dalot was preferred in the left-back role, including in the FA Cup semi-final. Until this past weekend, Malacia played only 19 minutes across four games following his Sevilla error.

This past weekend he was given a vote of confidence by Erik ten Hag, selected as a starter at Old Trafford in the league game against Aston Villa.

Malacia stepped up, and performed well, helping Manchester United to keep a clean sheet in a tightly contested game.

The 23-year-old created two chances, and won two tackles, proving useful at both end of the pitch in a spirited display where he did not let his manager down.

Ten Hag may have recognised it was sensible to take Malacia out of the firing line after his error last month. Now after a breather, he is back and ready to kick on.

Malacia told The Athletic after the win over Villa: “I’m happy I’m here, I’m learning a lot, my first year in the Premier League, I’ve played a lot of games, I’ve learnt a lot of things, so happy to be here.

“I don’t feel pressure, it’s okay, I’m just happy to be on the pitch and playing football is what I want to do. That’s what I dreamt of doing. So why should I be pressured?”

Malacia’s performance gives Ten Hag a good selection dilemma for Thursday night’s game against Brighton. He has shown his manager he can be trusted again.