Diogo Dalot has urged Manchester United to treat every match like a cup final in their pursuit of Champions League qualification and praised three teammates after their late win over Aston Villa.
United strengthened their hopes of a top-four finish in the Premier League when Scott McTominay headed in a late winner on Sunday afternoon, cutting the gap to Villa in fifth to just five points.
Erik ten Hag’s side still have a lot to do if they are to have any hopes of playing in the Champions League next season, but Dalot was delighted that his side finally beat a top-nine side on the road this season.
“I think it is a really important win,” he told reporters. “We knew that today was like a final for us; pretty much every game will be for us now if we want to get top four. We prepared well, and I am very happy with the way we performed and how we fought until the end to get the win.”
McTominay proved to be the matchwinner again from the bench with a fine headed goal that was set up by Dalot from the right wing.
The Portuguese defender was delighted to grab an assist and praised McTomiany for the attitude he showed coming on as a substitute.
Asked if he is looking to add more assists to his game, Dalot added: “I think I have the ability to do it; I still think I can get even more, so hopefully in the future, yeah.
“I think every time he (McTominay) comes on the pitch he has that mentality of trying to score goals and trying to help the team. We need this type of mentality at this club, and I think he is the perfect person to show this season that even coming from the bench, he always has a good impact.”
In what was a close match, a couple of individual performances proved to make the difference for United, with Andre Onana making a number of key stops in goal and Rasmus Hojlund putting in arguably his best United performance to date.
While it was a real team effort, Dalot also recognised their individual efforts afterwards. He continued: “This is what we expect from him (Onana). He’s been fighting for it, and we are very happy that he has been playing well.”
On Hojlund, he added: “That’s what brings calm, and that’s what brings games and gives you more confidence. He has adapted to the team really well, and we have adapted to him really well. Hopefully, he can score a lot more goals.”