OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER was delighted by Manchester United’s winning start to 2021 but knows there is plenty of work to do after edging past Aston Villa to go level on points with Premier League leaders Liverpool.

The second-placed Red Devils made it eight wins in 10 unbeaten top-flight matches on New Year’s Day.

Anthony Martial’s opener was cancelled out by a second-half Bertrand Traore effort at an empty Old Trafford, where Bruno Fernandes’ penalty sealed a hard-fought 2-1 win against Dean Smith’s impressive Villa side.

Solskjaer’s men join Liverpool on 33 points as a result of a victory that increases outsider talk of a title challenge.

“Of course we’re very happy with the position we’ve found ourselves in,” the United boss said.

“It’s such a big difference if you look 12 months back. You lose the chance to be there or thereabouts in the first 10 games, you can lose the chance to be in a title race.

“For us now, it’s a good position to be in but we need to improve, we need to get better. There’s going to be many tight games but if you can win games like tonight that’s going to make a big difference.”

There were shots aplenty at Old Trafford, where David De Gea made a fine save from Matty Cash in stoppage time before a key last-ditch challenge from Eric Bailly thwarted substitute Keinan Davis.

“Of course we knew how difficult it was going to be and we needed to be playing well,” Solskjaer said.