Erik ten Hag preached his belief that Manchester United “are back” and “defended very well” despite facing 23 shots in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Everton.

The Red Devils returned to winning ways thanks to a pair of first-half penalties, with Bruno Fernandes becoming the club’s all-time leading scorer from the spot before Marcus Rashford buried their second.

Despite the victory, United were out-shot by their opponents despite the advantage of playing at Old Trafford, with Everton registering 23 to their hosts’ 15. Per FotMob’s figures, United did record more expected goals with 2.56 to 1.48, though their own sum is heavily inflated by the two penalties.

Speaking to TNT Sports post-match, Ten Hag insisted it was a good defensive performance as Everton’s chances were not clear-cut.

“We defended very well. Our expected goals is much higher than them. We are defending low quality chances. Sometimes we are defending very low and we can do that very well,” Ten Hag said.

“It was important. We had one bad result against Fulham in this calendar year. We had to put this right and keep the pressure on the teams above us. There are many games to play. Now we are back. We will keep pressure on them and see what happens.”

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United have given up 50 shots in their last two matches alone having conceded 27 in their 3-1 derby defeat to Manchester City last week, while only Sheffield United (469) have faced more than them (467) in the Premier League all season.

When asked if he was pleased with United’s overall performance against Everton, Ten Hag replied: “In areas yes, especially with our attacks and counter-attacks, but we can make better choices to rest on the ball, choosing when to break. We could have scored three or four goals not just the two penalties. We defended quite well, we could have been a bit better in the build-up.

“We could have been calmer and more composed on the ball. Everton did well and pressed high which gave us lots of chances in behind.”

United’s win closed the gap to fourth-placed Aston Villa to five points, but Unai Emery’s side could extend their advantage with victory over Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.