Erik ten Hag was pleased with the fine performances of Marcus Rashford and Matthijs de Ligt in Man Utd’s 3-0 win over Southampton on Saturday.

The Dutchman has already been under pressure this season, having lost two games in a row against Brighton and Liverpool, allowing the Red Devils to claim just one win from their first three matches.

There were questions about what impact a defeat to Southampton would have on Ten Hag’s reputation with the fans and the Old Trafford management, and the game got off to a particularly inauspicious start when Diogo Dalot brought on Saints debutant Tyler Dibling, causing a penalty.

However, Andre Onana saved Cameron Archer’s penalty and Manchester United to equalize before Matthijs de Ligt put the visitors in the lead shortly afterwards.

De Ligt headed home a Bruno Fernandes cross before Marcus Rashford quickly doubled the lead with his first goal of the season six minutes later.

Southampton captain Jack Stephens was sent off in the 79th minute for a foul on Alejandro Garnacho, before the Red Devils’ Argentine winger scored shortly before the end to make it 3-0.

Ten Hag told TNT Sports: “We have to win every game and that’s what we did today.

“Sometimes you have to find a way to win. We had some problems in the first few minutes of the game, but after Andre (Onana) saved the penalty and scored Matthjis de Light’s goal, the game was all ours.”

On Rashford’s goal, Ten Hag added: “It’s very important. We spoke before the game and it’s so great for him, for any striker. When the season starts, you want to be on the scoresheet. Now he’s scored his first goal, I’m sure there will be more to come.”

“We had the chance to decide the game, we had chances, I don’t know how many. We had several to make it 3-0 or 4-0.”

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Man Utd finished the game with a back four of Casemiro, Harry Maguire, Jonny Evans and Dalot. On injuries, Ten Hag added: “We had international players at the start of the season, some are short in pre-season, some are coming off intercontinental flights and then when the game kicks off at 12:30 it can be difficult.”

“Hopefully it is nothing serious and we will have to assess it today and tomorrow.”

In another interview with Match of the dayTen Hag added of the game: “It wasn’t an easy start. I think the penalty was the turning point in the game and not long after we scored and that was very important. From that moment on, the game was all ours.”

Regarding De Ligt’s performance, Ten Hag said: “I’m not surprised. At the moment he’s not fit, he’s not at 100%. He needs the games to improve. We’re seeing signs now and once he’s there, he’ll do much better. We’re happy with him and especially with his game today.”

Asked if Rashford’s goal would boost his confidence, Ten Hag replied: “It’s very important. Every striker wants to be on the scoresheet. Once he scores the first goal, more will come. A striker once talked about a ketchup bottle, but once he scores once, more will come.”

Manuel Ugarte came off the bench for his debut against Southampton. Ten Hag said of the Uruguayan: “He hasn’t worked with the team, there were two training sessions, one before the break and one yesterday.”

“He was the only one who joined team training later, so he only had 20 minutes of training with the team yesterday. We were happy to bring him here today and show what he can do for our team.”