Ole: The players reacted well
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was pleased with the way his side responded, as Manchester United battled back to secure a valuable point against West Ham at Old Trafford.
The Reds were on the back foot with seconds to go at the end of the first half, as Michail Antonio slotted home a penalty which was awarded following a handball by Paul Pogba inside the area.
But Ole's team produced a response within six minutes of the restart, as Mason Greenwood combined brilliantly with Anthony Martial to power home a much-needed equaliser.
Although United weren't able to find a route to goal before the final whistle, this result puts the Reds in a strong position heading into Sunday's top-four showdown against Leicester City.
Speaking to MUTV and in his post-match press conference, the boss reflected on the performance, fighting back after going behind and new achievement for Greenwood...
Ole reacts as Reds go third
United picked up a point in our final home league game of 2019/20 to move into the top four – hear the boss’s thoughts…
DOING THE MATHS
"Going into half-time, we knew that’s not the result we wanted. A draw or a 1-0 win or 2-0 were more or less the same outcome for us so then we had to consolidate. You can’t expect to go into games and score three or five to make it a different scenario on Sunday."
A STRONG MENTALITY
"They reacted well at half-time. We needed to go out in the second half and win it. It's another step forward for them and another time that we've come back. Bournemouth took the lead, Southampton took the lead, and now, so we're learning."
MASON GREENWOOD
"There'll be more games for him. He'll score more and hopefully we'll have five more games and I'm sure that if he plays five games he'll score more. You expect it from him, when he's in and around the box you expect him to hit the target. One was blocked today by the defender, Ogbonna, and the other one he scored with, so we just have to keep teeing him up and giving him opportunities.
”With Mason, you know when he’s had a good sleep or he’s stayed up late [before training] playing on the PlayStation [laughs] as then he may not hit the ball as cleanly! What he did today, he’s done it time and time again. Every time he finishes, you can see he’s an exceptional finisher. It’s no surprise when he hits the back of the net as he’s that good a finisher."
Solskjaer's press conference
The boss spoke to reporters via Zoom in his post-match media briefing...
READY FOR THE BIG OCCASIONS
"We’ve had semi-finals and now it’s a 'final' and we’ve got raise ourselves for that one. We pinpointed this one at Leicester. If we have a chance to go there, we can be delighted we’ve caught up with the points and caught up with the goal difference and given ourselves a fantastic opportunity. We know we’re playing a difficult team – they are very, very dangerous in different aspects of the game and different things tactically. We’ll be ready."
Highlights: United 1 West Ham 1
Check out the best bits from Wednesday’s game at Old Trafford, including Mason Greenwood’s magnificent leveller…
CHASING THE TOP FOUR
"When we started after lockdown, we had to go for it. We had to go for it for goal difference and had to go for it with points. The effort has been fantastic, the results have been fantastic. Of course, we’d liked to have won against Southampton - when you concede in the last second and here today we’ve conceded at the end of the first half, but we’ve given ourselves a fantastic opportunity on Sunday."
BOUNCING BACK
"I knew David [De Gea] was going to be focused. Everyone knows we lost the game on Sunday and our pride is hurt. Every time we lose a game, we want to go out as soon as we can and David is the same. He showed today he keeps his concentration."