Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Ole emphasises key to the comeback

Wednesday 20 October 2021 23:30

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says belief was the key to Manchester United's stirring second-half comeback against Atalanta.

The Reds have taken control of Group F in the Champions League by moving to the top after a brilliant response to being two goals down at the interval.

Marcus Rashford, Harry Maguire and Cristiano Ronaldo all scored in front of the Stretford End to send the fans home happy after another European thriller at the Theatre of Dreams.

Ole reacts to second-half super show Video

Ole reacts to second-half super show

The boss has his say on another memorable Champions League night for his side...

After the game, Solskjaer provided his verdict on the victory, when speaking to MUTV and BT Sport...

ATTACK, ATTACK, ATTACK

"Tonight was an attacking game from start to finish. I thought it was two teams who were offensive-minded and wanted to go attacking. Maybe we wanted to finish the attacks too quickly and maybe gave the ball away too easily trying a risky pass. But that’s in our DNA. We’ve got players running and players with the quality of playing the last pass. Then we’re 2-0 down from two chances. It is difficult and I almost didn’t understand how that happened. Bang, bang, we’re 2-0 down but we kept believing and that’s key."

HALF-TIME MESSAGE

"Make sure we get the next goal because we'll win the game. As long as we didn't concede a goal, I was pretty sure we'd win the game. Because we did create chances in the first half as well, it was just about taking them. I was quite happy with the performance. I felt we were growing more and more into the game and it happened. All credit to the players, they did really well."

RASHFORD ON THE MARK AGAIN

"We had chances in the first half, from Marcus's runs, and he kept on going and, in the end, he got a knock. But he's going to be very, very important for us."

DEAD-EYED HARRY

"Yeah I wouldn’t believe that [finish], when I saw him in training this morning, I have to say, because he missed a big chance then! I don't think he would have believed he'd score that one tonight. It was an instinctive finish."

IRREPRESSIBLE RONALDO

"He's great in front of goal. If anyone wants to criticise him for work-rate or attitude, just watch this game. Watch how he runs around. The header is not on a par with his Roma one but he’s still got a leap and timing like no-one else."

SUPPORTERS DID THEIR JOB

"It’s just belief, that’s what it comes down to, with the crowd and they sensed it in the second half with how the players came out. I said it before the game, if we go out there and give everything for the team, we will have the crowd behind our backs. They always do here. They always turn up, the singing end and the Red Army were unbelievable."

CONTEXT OF THE GROUP

"Massive. I’ve said if you win your home games and get results away from home, you’ve got a good chance of going through. Tonight was a massive result. We got off to a slow start with the Young Boys game and, if we’re being honest, the red card has changed the game so that was disappointing. We didn’t play well against Villarreal, but we got the three points and dug in and I think tonight was a special night in terms of the togetherness, the spirit, the fight that we showed in the second half to keep believing and to keep pushing. Like I said, the fans gave us that. The energy that we felt from the fans in the second half was incredible."

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