Manchester United ran out comfortable 3-0 winners over Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night with manager Erik ten Hag saying the performance was what he had been looking for from his young team.

Goals from Alejandro Garnacho, Casemiro and Hannibal Mejbri were enough to see the Red Devils through to the next round.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the game Ten Hag said: “It was a good night; we played quite well and dominated the game.

“That’s what we are looking for.

“If you don’t win, of course, there is frustration and disappointment, and the mood is then dropping. But the spirit was always good, the togetherness was there and is there – you could see that today.

“We made a step forward at Burnley with how we defend, the togetherness and today on the ball we made another step.

“There is still a lot to come, but we’re moving forward,” he promised.

Pressed about the continuing absence of England star Jadon Sancho the United manager was less forthcoming: “I don’t talk about players who are not available. It’s up to him.”

But he had plenty of good things to say about the returning Mason Mount: “He’s returning from an injury, and we have to build this up.

“Go too quickly and you get a drop, we want to avoid that. I think his performance was very good,” he said.