Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Solskjaer reacts to vital win over Wolves

Tuesday 29 December 2020 23:41

Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes in his players' perseverance and tenacity after a gritty 1-0 win over Wolves elevated the Reds to second place in the Premier League table.

Marcus Rashford scored an injury-time winner with a shot that deflected in off Romain Saiss as the hosts finally broke down obdurate opponents at Old Trafford.

Find out what the manager had to say in his post-match interviews with MUTV and Amazon Prime...

Ole: Winning is a habit I enjoy Video

Ole: Winning is a habit I enjoy

The boss praises his players' mentality, following the last-gasp victory over Wolves...

LATE WINNERS - THE UNITED WAY

"It's one of the points we brought up early on in the season, in a meeting, that we didn't win many points from the end of games last season. We have a tradition for doing that at this club. Obviously, we'd (normally) have many more supporters helping us to do that but that's happened many times in that end [the Stretford End]. Now we've won quite a few points towards the end of games and that's both a mental aspect but also a physical aspect.

“It was one of those nights when, towards the end, you want fans to help you but we didn’t need that help today. We had a bit of luck with the deflection but you keep going and that is an aspect that this team has developed. The never-give-up attitude. We have done it so many times this season and it is starting to become a habit, which is good.”

DON'T STOP BELIEVING

“We had to defend well because, on the counter-attack, Wolves are always so dangerous. I thought Eric [Bailly] did fantastically all night, breaking up a few counter-attacks and Nemanja [Matic, in the] second half. We just adjusted a couple of positions in the second half to stop their counters and I think it worked. David [De Gea] had to make a save and he did. It was a good save, it was an important one for us.

“You don’t expect a 4-3 or a 5-4 against Wolves, you expect a tight game. They make you really work for the points and we had to work hard tonight and I think maybe the extra day's recovery helped us, of course, because they looked tired in the last 20 minutes and you think, keep going boys, don’t stop believing. The belief is there in this group.”

THE HALF-TIME SUBSTITUTION

"It was a shift in positions [Luke Shaw on for Alex Telles] and a different dynamic. Alex should be okay [after being subjected to one heavy tackle]."

Ole salutes three points in our final game of the calendar year.

THE TAXING FESTIVE SCHEDULE

“I think players deserve at least two days in between games. 72 hours between kick-offs is the minimum they should be allowed. But we made changes, they made changes and that’s why we have a big squad. We made six changes and that will stand us in good stead. It's Friday night again now [at home to Aston Villa] so hopefully they don't overdo the celebrations on Thursday as it's New Year's Eve! They are happy with the win, the confidence that gives you and the mentality and attitude that gives you. They will recover well for Friday.”

ARE WE TITLE CONTENDERS?

"Well, we just focus on the next game. I'm very, very boring but we cannot get too far ahead of ourselves. We've got to a decent position, at the moment, but we're not even halfway. It's a long, long way to go. We didn't perform as well as we want to but we won a game against a very difficult side to play against, Wolverhampton. We've struggled. It's the first win in the league for me against them. We've beaten them in the FA Cup but I think we've played them seven times and there have never been many goals in the games. For me, this is a big step forward, when you don't perform, but you still win."

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