Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Fred.

Solskjaer reacts to Manchester derby draw

Saturday 12 December 2020 20:28

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer feels his Manchester United team responded well to the midweek adversity, by showing character in the 0-0 draw with Manchester City.

After going out of the Champions League on Tuesday, at the hands of RB Leipzig, all eyes were on Old Trafford for the visit of Pep Guardiola's much-vaunted Blues.

It may not have been the most exciting of derbies, as there were precious few moments of danger for David De Gea and his opposite number Ederson, but the Reds had a penalty overturned, at the start of the second half, due to Marcus Rashford being fractionally offside.

Ole felt captain Harry Maguire was probably the star performer, with a commanding display at the heart of the defence, and it was clear he takes only positives from the stalemate with the Blues, as he discussed the game with MUTV and Sky Sports...

Ole: I'm very happy with the attitude and spirit Video

Ole: I'm very happy with the attitude and spirit

"The whole team, they deserve praise - I know how mentally tough it has been for them," explains the boss...

BIG-MATCH ANALYSIS
"It's a tight game. Two good teams. We beat them a few times last season but those were different games and we counter-attacked. Today was the most we've been in the game as in possession-wise and control. We kept them away from our box more than we've done in those games [last season] but they had a few big moments."

WE HAD CHANCES 
"We could have won it. I’m very happy with the attitude, the spirit and the recovery made from Tuesday night. It was a big blow and a big setback, of course. David has made a fantastic save from [Riyad] Mahrez, Harry made two great blocks from [Raheem] Sterling and [Kevin] De Bruyne, I think it was. It was great and I have to say, the defending was great. We stood up. We stuck together as a team. We did really well. They didn’t create too many moments and, of course, we wanted to score ourselves.”

SET-PIECE THREAT
"From corner-kicks, Harry had a header, Scott [McTominay] could have tapped one in at the back post and Victor [Lindelof] had a couple of headers, Marcus [Rashford] had a couple of decent moments. We could have won it but it wasn’t to be. I think we have a bit of a physical and height advantage so we worked a little bit on it yesterday and almost got the goal that we needed."

VAR INTERVENTION
"I didn’t see Marcus being a foot offside, probably. I didn’t see when the ball went that he was off, so I was disappointed that came up. Overall, probably a draw, everyone should be happy with that." 

MARVELLOUS MAGUIRE
"I've just said David made a great save as well. Maybe that will make a headline but probably not, because then he’s just doing his job. Harry made a couple of blocks and I thought Harry stood out as well. The whole team, they deserve praise. I know how mentally tough it has been for them, and for myself for that matter, after Tuesday night’s disappointment. They picked themselves up and got a result, a clean sheet and it’s something to move forward with."

BEST DISPLAY AGAINST CITY
"The glass is always half-full with me. That's just the way you have to look at it. In my time against Man City, that's the best performance we've had. Not the best result but it's the best performance. I think so, yeah."

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