Manchester United striker Rasmus Højlund is over the moon after scoring his first Premier League goal.
Following his acquisition from Serie A side Atalanta BC for £72 million in the summer, the 20-year-old striker has struggled in the side.
He could not make his debut as planned and had to sit out the first four Premier League games due to injury. Upon his return, he showed some promise and many expected him to begin to find the back of the net. His performances in the UEFA Champions League despite Manchester United’s struggles in the competition continued to inspire confidence in his abilities.
United would end up out of the competition altogether but Højlund would end up as the joint top goalscorer of the competition at the group stages, with five goals from six games. Still, he found it difficult to find the back of the net in the Premier League.
He finally broke the duck in what many have now described as the side’s best performance in all competitions this season. United fought back from two goals down against Aston Villa to win their Boxing Day clash by three goals to two and the Dane scored the winner.
It was an emotional moment for him which was celebrated by all his teammates while he shed tears of joy for finally getting on the scoresheet in a Premier League game.
That moment was special to him and made him the happiest man alive according to his comments to Amazon Prime after the game.
“It’s been a while”, he said. “I am happy.”
“Like the manager said, I’ve scored a couple in the Champions League, of course, but it’s been a while in the Premier League now.”
“I’m happy to get the first one and can hopefully just build on that and keep going.”
“I’m happy for the attackers as well today – we showed a lot of character and we showed a lot of confidence as well.”
“I am the happiest man alive. You can see with the celebrations.”
“Like Garna [Garnacho] says, we believe until the end, and we showed a lot of character again today.”
Under-fire Man United boss Erik ten Hag also praised Højlund for putting his head down and finally proving his detractors wrong.
“I have had several talks with him”, said Ten Hag. “I pointed out that you scored for Denmark a lot, you scored in the Champions League, you have demonstrated the ability, so you can do it. Believe in it and it will come.”
“I am sure now the first goal is in, he will get more.”
“Of course, when strikers don’t score that is always a problem but he has a strong character and is always so determined. He has a big personality and that is what a striker needs. And when you keep investing, the goals will come.”
