OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER admitted Manchester United “didn’t play a great game” as they battled to a 1-0 victory over Leicester City at Old Trafford yesterday.
Marcus Rashford’s eighth-minute penalty settled a contest that was not always high on quality, as Leicester’s unbeaten start to the season came to an end.
The visitors enjoyed 58% of the possession but did not create much by way of meaningful opportunities, although David de Gea did make good first-half saves from James Maddison and Ben Chilwell.
Rashford, who missed a penalty in the loss to Crystal Palace last month, took his spot-kick well before United opted to sit deeper and threaten on the counter-attack.
Solskjaer was not overly impressed with the performance in the final hour, but he was delighted with a clean sheet and the way in which his players worked.
“Three points, clean sheet, the camaraderie and togetherness, the work rate,” he said when asked what pleased him most about the win.
“Let’s not kid ourselves – we didn’t play a great game. The first 20, 25 minutes were fantastic but then we gradually lost control of it. Towards the end, I felt we were in control again.
“It was probably the first time this season apart from spells against Chelsea that we’ve had to defend as a team for longer periods. I was pleased to get a clean sheet; David got a couple of good saves.
“This stadium, they love effort and attitude and energy. For the penalty, Andreas [Pereira] wins a tackle inside the box, Marcus sprints and just gets in front of him [Caglar Soyuncu] - the fans love that.
“People are talking about our lack of clean sheets. We’ve had Chelsea and Leicester here, two good teams who are going for the top four, and we’ve kept clean sheets against them.”
Harry Maguire was booed by the travelling support even before kick-off but produced a fine display at the heart of the defence to keep his old team-mates at bay.
“It didn’t look like he missed them too much!” Solskjaer said. “He did really well. He stuck his head in and he was so calm on the ball for us and we needed that in the second half.”
On Rashford’s penalty, Solskjaer added: ”He’s been practicing. Everyone can miss a penalty – I’ve seen [Diego] Maradona, I’ve seen [Lionel] Messi, all the best ones miss penalties. He was calm and just wanted it to come his way.”
A tad disappointed to see Eddie take the Cuala job. It’s a bit of a handy number really. I can understand his frustrations in Laois but this feels like a cop out. What he wouldn’t bring to a Carlow, Westmeath, Meath etc. It also saddens me to think that Cuala have the big bucks to throw at the big names and Eddie has probably been tempted by the €s.
@Johnny B: Tempted by €s? Is that such a bad thing? If he had taken over a county team with a few bob there would be purists implying he’s a mercenary too. He’s endured a tough time coping with the structures in Laois. Can’t blame him for joining a well run club with good players where he will probably do more for his reputation that spinning his wheels at a Carlie, Westmeath, Meath etc.
@Johnny B: I’m sure there is a bigger picture to look at here. Surely just a stepping stone into the Dublin hurling manager.
@EnKy: I don’t blame him either. Think he’s a real genuine hurling man. It’s just his attributes would be a real asset to a developing county. But you’re probably right = straight into the Dubs from here.
Would like to have seen Eddie in the Clare job. See how far he could actually bring them.
@Billy: would you not give Lohan a chance and try get the players missing this year back into the squad?
Best of luck to them,John was a fablous hurler ,thats some managment set up for a Club.
@Gerry Campbell: What about Ballaghaderreen baby?