Ole Gunnar Solskjaer saluted a Manchester United performance packed full of positives in the face of adversity in Sunday’s 0-0 draw with Liverpool.
United lost Ander Herrera, Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard to injury in the first half at Old Trafford and were indebted to Marcus Rashford who battled through the game with an ankle injury he sustained in the opening exchanges.
“Everything that could have gone wrong in the first half went wrong,” Solskjaer said.
“You’re never surprised in football, you’ve always got to be ready for anything, but to lose three players in the first half with injuries….
“Rashford could have been taken off because he was injured from the first tackle, one of plenty. (Jordan) Henderson went through him and his ankle was like a balloon
“I was very concerned with Marcus staying out there and making the injury worse, but he’s a warrior and he’s a ‘Manc’ and he knows what this means. We had to keep him on because we’d already had to make three subs.
“It seemed like it was going to be a tough afternoon, but I can’t remember Liverpool having a chance. Even though they had possession, I can’t remember David de Gea making a save.”
Liverpool reclaimed top spot in the Premier League with the point at Old Trafford, but they rarely looked like grabbing the initiative in the title race, with United limiting them to just a few chances.
Solskjaer was even left wondering what might have been, with the game’s best chances falling United’s way.
“We created one or two massive moments where we could have scored,” he said.
“If Chris (Smalling) was a striker he’d have got his studs on the late chance, and Jesse’s chance before the recurrence of his injury which was the biggest.”