Manchester United interim manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer suggested his side did not play with enough attacking pace as his winning run as the club’s interim manager came to an end in a 2-2 draw against Burnley at Old Trafford.
Late goals from Paul Pogba and Victor Lindelof salvage a point on a night when Burnley looked set to secure a famous win, with Solskjaer finding silver linings in his side’s battling qualities.
“The comeback was brilliant, the players have been asked about how they would react if they went 1-0 or 2-0 down so I felt the comeback was fantastic, but clearly we did not play quickly enough for large parts of the game,” said Solskjaer.
“We were too slow in possession in the first half. We had loads of chances, loads of possession, we didn’t deserve to lose. But we did it to ourselves really.
“For the first goal we played our way into trouble. It wasn’t the attitude, the application was too slow and the tempo on the ball wasn’t good enough, but the reaction was good.
“We disappointed ourselves and we disappointed the crowd today, but the ones who stayed had a typical Old Trafford finish to the game so that was a big plus.
“We know we could have performed better in first 60/70 mins the reaction was brill to get two goals after 87 mins is great and testament to everyone’s character, never give up at this club.
“We got a point we need to learn from this have to be able to handle not winning games too, on to Leicester now.”
Pogba suggested his side lacked focus in the opening phase of the game and only played at their best in the final stages.
“You have to start strong and be aggressive because that’s what they were in the first half. We played like we were winning 1-0 or 2-0, that’s where we went wrong,” said Pogba.
“We have to learn from our mistakes and next time start the game differently. The comeback was positive but the result was disappointing. The reaction was good, we didn’t lose, but we dropped two points.”
United midfielder Nemanja Matic was scathing is his assessment of his side’s display, as he suggested they let their standards slip against Burnley.
“Today was not good enough,” he declared. “I think it is two points lost, we expect more from this game. We wanted to win, but after 2-0 down we have to be happy with one point.
“We should play better, we have to play better, see where we made mistakes, to improve and play like we have in last seven or eight games.”This is the Premier League, every team has quality and will punish you if you miss chances, exactly what Burnley did today.”We have to do much better, the mentality needs to be much better than the first 75 minutes. So we have look into the mirror to see where we made mistakes, to improve as a team then we will be happy again.
Sean Dyche has still NEVER lost a Premier League game on a Tuesday.
— Goal (@goal) January 29, 2019
Burnley boss Sean Dyche admitted his side were frustrated to concede late goals that denied his side a famous away win, but he found positives amid his disappointment.
“It was an excellent performance, we know they are in fine form,” stated Dyche. “We were resilient, we are getting harder and harder to beat, and we can score goals as well. The bravery is coming back to the team. Fantastic credit to the players, a firm draw.
“Our performances lately have picked up, their will, desire and mentality is growing all the time. I don’t know where the five minutes of stoppage-time came from. That’s a bugbear because it gave the crowd a lift. I also think Lindelof is offside when Alexis Sanchez heads it, but like I say the margins are tight.”