Erik ten Hag brands Manchester United collapse "unacceptable"

The 20-time English champions led 2-0 at the interval of the contest courtesy of a strike from Jadon Sancho and an own goal from Matty Cash.

However, Leon Bailey halved the deficit early in the second period before Calum Chambers came up with a leveller for Steven Gerrard's side in the final moments.

The 2-2 draw ended Man United's 100% record on their pre-season tour, and Ten Hag was not prepared to blame the torrential rain, which impacted the pitch, for his side's disappointing second-half display.

"We had a lot of movement behind the defending line, scored two great goals so we were 2-0 up at half-time and then our focus dropped," the Daily Mail quotes Ten Hag as saying.

"It can be that the guys are tired but that's not an excuse. They have to perform and it is what we didn't do that in the second half. It was the focus. I don't want to make excuses about the pitch or weather. No matter what we have to perform.

"Football is a sport of mistakes and we have to decrease the mistakes. That's clear but I have seen a lot of progress in these two weeks.

"In the first half I saw really good football, really controlling and dominating the game but we have to learn from what happened in the second half. It's not possible that you go 2-0 and then throw it away.

"A drop of focus is unacceptable. We have to get out of the dressing room and back in your plan and your focus and back to your performance and that is what we didn't do."

Man United have finished their pre-season tour of Australia with three wins and one draw from their four matches, having overcome Liverpool, Melbourne Victory and Crystal Palace before sharing the points with their Premier League opponents on Saturday.

The Red Devils will now head to Europe for their final two friendlies of the summer against Atletico Madrid and Rayo Vallecano, which both take place next weekend.

Ten Hag's side will then begin their 2022-23 Premier League campaign at home to Graham Potter's Brighton & Hove Albion outfit on August 7.

Tyrell Malacia has been the club's only summer arrival on their tour, with Christian Eriksen not making the trip to Australia, while a move for Lisandro Martinez has not yet been made official despite the club reaching an agreement with Ajax over his signature.

Man United continue to chase Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong, while they are still believed to be looking to sign Ajax's Antony before the end of the transfer window.

However, it appears that the club will have to wait until the latter stages of the window to potentially sign the pair, with De Jong still pushing to remain at Barcelona and Ajax reluctant to allow Antony to leave.