Ole: Donny has a knack for finding the right areas

Our summer import from Ajax registered a debut goal in the 3-1 Premier League defeat against Crystal Palace on Saturday, and demonstrated that he has a key instinct in the penalty area to sniff out a chance.

Van de Beek came on as a substitute against the Eagles and scored 13 minutes into his competitive career for United.

Ole and his staff had done their homework on the Dutch international and noted that for Ajax he possessed a commodity the Reds had been lacking.

“Donny is bright, he sees space and sees the ball, where it is going to land in the box, and that is what he is going to give us. That is why we have signed him,” said the boss, after Saturday's game.

“He has a great attitude and energy, one of the better ones I know for finding space and sniffing out space. He has that knack of finding the right areas in the box,” added the manager.

“We needed that because when we get round them [the Palace defenders] - not often enough - and put crosses in, there were not enough bodies in the box. We didn’t have the players in there, in the right areas, but he gave us that.”

While van de Beek was delighted to score on his debut at Old Trafford, the defeat to Palace certainly took the shine off his first appearance.

“It was my first day for the club, a day you want to win, and it doesn't matter how you win. I'm really disappointed that we have lost 3-1 at home. It's really bad,” he told MUTV.

Had there been a crowd inside the stadium, then the roof would have come off the Stretford End when the Dutchman gave United a slight glimmer of hope with his strike in the 80th minute.

“To play for the fans in stadiums like this, it's nicer. I scored, but we lost and it's just the most important thing that we have to win,” he said.

“But it's always really nice to play for a club like this. I played my first game and I hope to help the team win next time, for sure.”

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