Wout Weghorst showed in five seconds vs Newcastle why Erik ten Hag brought him to Manchester United

Statistics don’t lie and in terms of goals, they make for pretty grim reading for Wout Weghorst at Manchester United.

There was a buzz around the stop-gap striker upon his January arrival at Old Trafford with the hope he could make an impact after his nine goals in 18 Besiktas games during the first half of the season.

Those looking at his performance from purely a goal-ratio angle - one in 12 outings - will be left disappointed. But Erik ten Hag isn’t - because he brought him in for a different reason.

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It is evident that Weghorst’s persistent running and hold-up play has its uses and United fans, for the most part, have appreciated his selfless efforts. Ten Hag admired these attributes so much that he dropped him into the number 10 role against Barcelona at the Nou Camp.

The system worked and United came back to Old Trafford for their Europa League play-off tie with a heartening 2-2 draw. Ten Hag tried it again in the first half of the return leg but it didn’t have the same effect, and Weghorst was hooked for match-winner Antony at half-time.

That shouldn't be deemed as a damning indictment of the attacker but more that the La Liga leaders had a calmer midfield with the experienced Sergio Busquets back in to plug the spaces Weghorst was trying to find - not that it mattered in the end.

Weghorst can still perform his drop-off and play-forward duties from the number nine role and that’s what he did against Newcastle in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final.

After receiving the ball, the frontman carried the ball for four seconds and during the next one neatly threaded the ball through to Rashford, who scooped in United’s second of the game on 39 minutes.

The Dutchman