Solskjaer keen for Man Utd to ‘progress’ as he praises ‘brilliant’ forward

Lewis Oldham
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer F365
Man United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has insisted that they want to finish this season well by winning the Europa League.

The Red Devils were made to work on Sunday as Burnley put in a resilient showing at Old Trafford. 

Sean Dyche’s side caused United a lot of problems but it was the hosts who took the lead.


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Mason Greenwood fired his boyhood club in front at the start of the second half. The Clarets were not deterred by this, though, as they equalised moments later.

James Tarkowski got there ahead of the likes of Harry Maguire and Paul Pogba to head home past Dean Henderson.

United retook the lead in the final ten minutes as Greenwood grabbed his second of the game. The Englishman saw his deflected strike from inside the area find the net.

Solskjaer’s men got their third in stoppage time with Burnley chasing the game. A smart counter-attacked was finished off by Edinson Cavani.

As cited by BBC Sport, Solskjaer said post-match that he is pleased by United’s positive run of form:

“Very happy with three points, we haven’t beat Burnley here since 2015. Good result, five wins on the bounce, that’s good form.

“First half we started OK, got control but we couldn’t find the big openings and Burnley made it more of an end-to-end game, bit scrappy because they defended and attacked so well we couldn’t get a rhythm.

“We played and ran in the second half, got chances and got the goal deservedly, you switched off for two seconds for the corner and that’s how it is against Burnley.”

On Henderson mistake: “First one is a wake-up call for him, he’s a proactive keeper and luckily he was offside so another win and Dean is still learning and maturing.”

On Greenwood: “Fantastic, two very good goals coming in off the left at the moment. I feel his best position is to be more free on the right, face the goal and he showed that today.

“We’ve always said this year has to be progress and improvement, we’ve got as many points as last season and then if we get some more we’ve got more than last season, that’s progress. We want to finish with a trophy in the Europa League, we’ve got loads of games and loads to focus on.”