Diogo Dalot heaps praise on Rasmus Hojlund after Brighton and Hove Albion strike | OneFootball

Diogo Dalot has lavished praise on his fellow Manchester United star, Rasmus Hojlund after the club’s 2-0 win at the Amex stadium over Brighton and Hove Albion.

United needed victory on the final day to ensure any chance of qualifying for Europe, but it was too little, too late as Newcastle were victorious against Brentford, meaning that the Red Devils miss out on qualifying for Europe from their league position for the first time since 2014.

One player who has stood out positively all season is Diogo Dalot and he put in another fine performance yesterday, scoring the opening goal of the match in the second half.

His manager Erik ten Hag also spoke glowingly of the player after the match, claiming that the coaching staff were very happy with his progress over the course of the season and waxed lyrical over his versatility to play as a standard and also inverted full back.

The Portuguese international has been the one defender who has managed to stay fit all season, playing 49 games in all competitions with three goals and five assists to his name.

The Portugal international was also able to impressively play in 36 out of 38 Premier League matches this season, being the one constant in a back four was repeatedly chopped and changed due to injury.

Speaking to MUTV (via the club’s official website) the 25 year old praised Hojlund’s development over the course of the season.

Dalot shared the advice that he gave the 21 year old right after his late goal at the Amex.

“I told him straight away after the goal that this is the type of mentality that we want. Whether you’re on the bench, whether you start the game, you need to be ready. Fresh.”

“As soon as you come on, if it is for five minutes, one minute, 15 or 20, you need to give everything, and he has shown, especially in these last two games when he has come on, that he gives energy to the team. He is fresh, he is strong and he’s winning duels.”

“This is the Rasmus that we want to see all season and I am really happy with him.”

Speaking on the game as a whole he claimed, “I think it was a progressive performance. We started really well but then we lost some balls in the middle and we lost some confidence, especially with the ball.”

“Without the ball, first half, we were struggling a little bit to defend the pockets and the spaces in the middle. They were doing a lot of one-twos that created some chances. We were lucky not to go into half-time with one goal conceded, so we knew that we needed a change and we had much more control in the second half.”

United now aim to finish the season on a high when they travel to Wembley in six days’ time to take on Manchester City in the FA Cup final.

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