90min

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer Hails 'Fantastic' Manchester United Performance

By Toby Cudworth

Solskjaer was delighted with what he saw from Manchester United
Solskjaer was delighted with what he saw from Manchester United / NICK POTTS/Getty Images
facebooktwitterreddit

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer heaped praise on his players after a four-goal first half blitz helped down bitter rivals Leeds 6-2 at Old Trafford.

The Red Devils exploded out of the traps as Scott McTominay scored twice in the opening three minutes - breaking a Premier League record in the process - and they added to their lead before the break thanks to goals from Bruno Fernandes and Victor Lindelof.

Leeds did net two goals of their own, sandwiched in either half, but Daniel James' fifth and a penalty from Fernandes added gloss on what was a very impressive performance from United.

Scott McTominay netted twice early on
Scott McTominay netted twice early on / Pool/Getty Images

After the game, Solskjaer revealed he'd told his side to get after Leeds from the opening whistle, but insisted that he won't get carried away with United being up to third in the table with only 13 games played.

"That was fantastic," Solskjaer told Sky Sports. "From the first minute we had a plan to get after them, go forward when we got the ball and of course Scott gets two goals in the first three minutes which is a great start to the game.

"We found a way of getting going. Just imagine if that had 75,000 people here, it would have gone down in history as one of the better Man Utd performances against Leeds here at home.

"We're one third into the season, not even at the halfway point. So league position is not something we're going to look at. We look at improvement in the team, look at improvement in fitness - because we knew we were going to be lagging behind in fitness and I think it showed in the first few games.

Marcelo Bielsa's Leeds were full of running, but kept leaving themselves exposed
Marcelo Bielsa's Leeds were full of running, but kept leaving themselves exposed / Pool/Getty Images

The Norwegian also touched on the open nature of the game, admitting that the score could have been a lot higher had both teams taken their chances; United had 26 efforts on goal, while Leeds had 17 attempts of their own.

"You have to earn the right to win it by running as much or even more than them," Solskjaer added. "That's a challenge against Leeds, who are one of the fittest teams in the league. That will be interesting to see the stats.

"Then the man-marking [by Leeds], there were a couple of movements that we worked on that worked at times.

"It could or should have been 12-4! It was that type of game. You know it's going to be frantic, hectic against them. No matter what the result is, 5-0, or 5-0 down, or 0-0, they have a certain attitude and style that make you have to work and you have to concentrate every minute."