Solskjaer: The fans were our twelfth man
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was overwhelmed with the level of support from the Manchester United faithful as his side fought valiantly to claim a well-earned point against Liverpool.
The caretaker manager had to make his full complement of substitutions in the first half with Ander Herrera, Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard all suffering injuries. Marcus Rashford was also hurt, within minutes of the kick-off, and had to play on.
Despite these setbacks, United came closest to breaking the deadlock with Lingard, Chris Smalling and Rashford all having attempts, while Liverpool barely gave David De Gea anything to do at the other end.
Speaking to Sky Sports and MUTV after the game, Solskjaer discussed the injuries, the importance of the fans and briefly looked ahead to Wednesday night's game against Crystal Palace.
Ole's verdict on United 0 Liverpool 0
Solskjaer has provided his verdict on the draw, our four injuries and your magnificent support of the team...
THE CROWD WERE FANTASTIC
"Today we saw Man United's team spirit and togetherness, the crowd and us together. I have to say we keep praising the away fans when we come back with a win, but today the [home] fans were unbelievable. For the whole 90 minutes. The fans, they were the 12th man today."
WE HAD THE BEST CHANCES
"We've come out with so many positives. I cannot remember David having to make a save, so we kept them out of it and we probably created one or two massive moments that we could have scored. Chris, if he was a striker, he would have got his studs on that one. Jesse’s chance, before he got the recurrence of his injury, was the biggest."
INJURY UPDATE
"We’ve got a good squad, a strong squad. Players will come in and want to do a job. You can see the team spirit in the dressing room after [the game]. We know we didn’t play particularly well, but we defended so doggedly and as a team.”
RASHFORD THE WARRIOR
"Marcus is a warrior and he’s a Manc and he knows what this game means. We had to keep him on, because we already had to make three subs. It seemed like it was their plan, to just kick him, because they kept kicking him from the first minute. If that’s not an accumulation of fouls I don’t know. But he stayed on. His ankle is like a balloon, so it was a fantastic attitude by him. He’s angry, because of how many fouls they did on him."
United 0 Liverpool 0
ArticleThe country's two biggest clubs battled to a stalemate at Old Trafford on Sunday in a tense encounter.
MCTOMINAY STEPPED UP TO THE MARK
"Scotty played fantastic. He’s played in these games before, big games, and he’s got a big-game mentality. He's an Academy kid who was up for the game when I put the challenge to him."
PRAISE FOR THE DEFENCE
"Chris [Smalling] and Victor [Lindelof] are fantastic centre-backs and they defended really well. On Luke Shaw, when they took Salah off and they still needed a goal, you know how well he’s played. I’ve got to say I'm very pleased with the defending. We know we’ve got to perform better with the ball. We can play better, but then again I thought Paul [Pogba] was outstanding. Everything he did there was a thought behind it, so he stepped up again.”
'That was the loudest home crowd in years'
"This is the loudest I've heard the United fans in years and years," says Paddy Crerand in his summary of the match...
"Well, we’ve lost a few players with muscle injuries, hamstrings, but we’ve got some good kids coming through, so don’t worry about it. We’ll have 11 players on the pitch on Wednesday night as well. Luckily we’ve got two days of recovery. Michael [Carrick] might be putting his boots on. It's not as bad as needing me yet, but we’re alright, we’ll be fine.”