Jadon Sancho’s reaction to Alejandro Garnacho goal speaks volumes

Jadon Sancho could barely contain his delight as his replacement Alejandro Garnacho scored a precious second for Manchester United to put the game to bed at Elland Road in their hard-fought 2-1 victory. The England international winger was making his first start since returning to Erik ten Hag’s side following an extensive lay-off which even saw him placed on his own personal training programme in Holland.

While Sancho did not hit the heights of midweek when he scored the leveller, he is now showcasing that he is part of this team again after becoming disillusioned earlier in the season.

At the time, Sancho was not enjoying his football and it showed on the field but that has now changed and Ten Hag deserves huge credit for managing his player’s mentality, fitness and general wellbeing.

Sancho’s passion was evident as Garnacho broke free down the left and rifled home United’s second past Illan Meslier – despite being substituted.

He quickly emerged from his seat in the dugout and was shouting loudly as he celebrated the goal with the rest of the United bench behind Ten Hag.

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It was Sancho’s partner in crime Marcus Rashford who struck the opener when he turned home Luke Shaw’s cross with an expert header.

Substitute Garnacho then gave United a two-goal cushion when he finished with aplomb on the counter-attack much to the delight of his manager.

Wout Weghorst then thought he made it 3-0 but he was adjudged to have been offside after turning the ball home following Harry Maguire’s knockdown.

Rashford then also saw a second goal chalked off when he smashed the ball across Meslier and into the bottom corner of the net.

Ten Hag recently declared he felt he made the right decision by cutting Sancho from the United side despite his instant return to form.

“It’s clear it’s a difficult period that he finds himself out of. I’m pleased and I’m proud he did it,” Ten Hag said.

“So I will back him, the coaches will back him, the team is backing him and supporting him in this process and finally he has to do it by himself.”

Sancho made it clear he was on cloud nine in midweek as he took to social media after scoring against Leeds, writing: “I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed this feeling! Team showed great character to stay in the game, we go again on the weekend.”