Ole Gunnar Solskjaer Reacts to Manchester United's Defensive Shambles Against Istanbul Basaksehir
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer described Manchester United's defending as 'unforgivable' following the Red Devils' embarrassing Champions League defeat to Istanbul Basaksehir.
United's Turkish opponents had never scored a goal or won a game in the competition prior to Wednesday's encounter, but ran out 2-1 victors in Istanbul largely thanks to some questionable defending on the Red Devils' behalf.
Demba Ba was left unmarked on the halfway line and played clean through after just 11 minutes to open the scoring - a finish somewhat reminiscent of his infamous goal for Chelsea against Liverpool back in 2014.
"Performance wasn’t good enough against a team that ran and worked and caught us on the break," Solskjaer told BT Sport at full time [via @utdreport]. "We didn’t defend well enough. We play a short corner and forget about the man up top and that’s unforgivable, the first one.
"Lack of communication and lack of good decisions, you don’t really see those goals at this level. We shouldn't concede goals like this."
Edin Visca doubled the hosts' lead, the winger gifted all the time and space in the world to leather the ball home, applying the finishing touches to a swift counter attack after Juan Mata had been dispossessed in his own half.
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"The second one we weren’t well organised enough to counter-press and win the ball back," Solskjaer added. "Two tough goals to give away and we didn’t have enough to come back in the second half
"Nothing becomes history quicker than a game of football. You don’t just turn up and get three points in the Champions League that’s shown here today.
"We have played against lots of good individuals in a good teams and we weren’t good enough that’s it. It’s not easy to be positive now, of course it isn’t when you’ve just lost the way you did."