MANCHESTER, England — Erik ten Hag praised a “perfect night” after Manchester United beat Barnsley 7-0 in the Carabao Cup.

Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho and Christian Eriksen all scored twice, while Antony found the net from the penalty spot, as Ten Hag secured the biggest win of his time.

It was also United’s biggest win since a 9-0 victory over Southampton in February 2021 under former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

“Not for me, but for the team it’s the perfect night,” Ten Hag said afterwards. “I think we were able to do everything we set out to do; how to win the next round, score some great goals, entertain the fans, we worked on our game model, so we’re happy.”

Ten Hag was able to rotate his squad against League One Barnsley, making eight changes from the team that beat Southampton 3-0 on Saturday.

Rashford was one of three players to retain his place and scored two more goals last weekend.

It was the first time the England forward has scored more than once in a match since he scored twice in the 3-0 win over Leicester in February 2023.

“I know from my first season here that if he scores, it’s easier for the team,” Ten Hag said. “If you have a player in your squad who guarantees goals, that can make the difference. You can do a lot of things very well between the penalty kicks, but football games are decided in the penalty kicks.”

United bounced back from a 3-0 defeat to Liverpool by scoring 10 goals and conceding none against Southampton and Barnsley.

“I wasn’t devastated by Liverpool and I’m not celebrating now,” Ten Hag said. “It’s a never-ending process. I know where I want to go, in what direction. I know we have a lot of speed and dynamism and we saw that today and we have players who are able to dominate possession. We have to work even harder to get all phases of the game right.”