Saint-Etienne midfielder Henri Saivet has insisted that his side's 3-0 defeat against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Thursday night was not a true reflection of their performance.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s hat-trick did put Manchester United in the driving seat in the Europa League last 32 tie and left Saint-Etienne a mountain to climb in the second leg in France.
Saivet feels there is still hope for Saint-Etienne in the tie but admits that they will have to start well at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard next Wednesday and continue to frustrate Manchester United, which he feels his team did well.
The midfielder told French sports daily L’Equipe: “There is still hope; it will be necessary to start the return leg well.
“We were able to put them under pressure and they looked very annoyed on the pitch. It will be necessary to approach the return leg in the same way and be more realistic, which is what we lacked.”
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Saivet is also of the opinion that the 3-0 scoreline is harsh on his side as he believes that Saint-Etienne gave a good account of themselves on the pitch with their graft.
But he admits that they will have to learn not to lose such kinds of games in the future as at the end of the day the result is still 3-0 to Manchester United.
“We played a good game even if the margin of defeat looks heavy; I hope in the future, we won’t lose these kinds of matches.
“We are feeling a bit said as we feel they did not dominate us completely but at the end, it is still 3-0.”
