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Sports Man United wrap up worst ever Premier League finish
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Assessing Man United’s worst-ever Premier League finish (2:24)
The ESPN FC Live team grade a Premier League season to forget for Manchester United, who finish way outside a Champions League spot in eighth. (2:24)
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Rob Dawson, CorrespondentMay 19, 2024, 12:59 PM ET
Manchester United’s miserable season ended with confirmation of their worst Premier League finish, despite a 2-0 final-day win against Brighton on Sunday.
Erik ten Hag’s team finished eighth in the standings. United’s previous worst finish in the Premier League era was seventh under David Moyes in 2013-14.
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Their 14 league defeats in a single season is their highest since recording 16 during the 1989-90 campaign under Sir Alex Ferguson.
“It is not good enough by far. Eighth is the worst performance. It is the truth, but we should have done better,” Ten Hag said after the game. “Hopefully we will have a good week and everyone is on board. We will put a competitive team out and we will fight for the [FA] Cup,”
Despite the victory at Brighton, which came courtesy of goals from Diogo Dalot and Rasmus Højlund, United also finished with a negative goal difference (minus-1) for the first time in 34 years.
It’s the culmination of a disastrous second season under Ten Hag, who saw his team finish bottom of their Champions League group in December.
United can still salvage something when they face rivals Manchester City in the FA Cup final at Wembley on Saturday.
After finishing eighth in the Premier League, they can still guarantee themselves a place in the Europa League next season with a victory in the cup final.
