Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag defended substituting Cristiano Ronaldo during Sunday's 0-0 draw with Newcastle.
Ronaldo had started up-front at Old Trafford and had a goal disallowed by referee Craig Pawson. But in his only change of the game, Ten Hag opted to haul off the Portuguese superstar 18 minutes from time, replacing him with Marcus Rashford.
"We have to cover four games in ten days. I want to keep the strikers fresh. We have to rotate there. Rashy didn't have energy for the whole game so we have to plan it," the Dutchman said.
“I thought Rashy had an impact and if he scored the goal, we would have done everything right. The performance was good, a clean sheet, we pressed well, we controlled the game and in stages we were good on the ball - especially in the second half.
"Then, we dictated the game and in the end we could - we should - have scored the winning goal. One from Fred, and then [Marcus] Rashford had to score. In the end we could have got the win, we deserved the win.
"It is a big compliment to the team that we deserved this with a physical performance against one of the most physical teams in the league. They [Newcastle players] all had cramp and we kept going. The team understands from front to back we cooperate together. We are hard to beat and we must keep that going."
