‘Disappointed’ Solskjaer targets Arsenal win after Man United’s shock defeat to Sheffield United

MANCHESTER United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has urged his side to bounce back against Arsenal on Saturday after the Red Devils were beaten at home by Sheffield United on Wednesday night.

There were 35 points between them at kick-off but bottom side Sheffield United were superb on the night and ended Manchester United’s 13-match unbeaten run with a sensational win at Old Trafford.

Kean Bryan scored first for Sheffield United with a header in the 23rd minute from a corner kick but Harry Maguire levelled for the hosts in the 64th minute with a similar goal.

Substitute Oliver Burke was given a lot of space in the Manchester United box to strike home the deflected winner in the 74th minute to stun Solskjaer and his team.

Manchester United have now lost four of 10 Premier League home games this season, their most in a season since seven league defeats at Old Trafford in 2013-14.

The manager is now looking ahead to the contest at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday to shake off his disappointment.

“No big inquest. Of course we are disappointed,” Solskjaer told MUTV.

“We have seen so many results this season being out of character and today, yes we’re surprised, but with the world as it is we have been very consistent. 

“We have been the most consistent team the last few months and it just hit us today. We dust off the sad feeling and go again. We’ll get over it tonight and start again tomorrow. 

“Saturday it’s Arsenal and a big performance is needed as they’re in good form, good shape and have done well against us before. We know we have to lift ourselves.

“I just think it’s this kind of season, we’ve been terrific, our consistency has been absolutely top and we’ve won narrow games like this one so many times. When it doesn’t happen today, we’re disappointed of course we are because we know we can play better. But I don’t have time for a big, long inquest. We need to get over it and go again.”

Solskjaer’s side were on a very good run of form, going 13 games without defeat before being brought back down to earth and cut to size by the Blades.

It was Sheffield United’s first league win at Old Trafford since December 1973 and their first Premier League away win in 16 games (since winning at Crystal Palace in  February 2020).

The Norwegian was especially frustrated by the manner his team conceded the goals and the flat, unimaginative performance.

He said: “Disappointing. Well below par, of course, we started okay but then conceded the goal from maybe the first attack, a corner-kick. We had all the possession but when you concede two bad goals it is always going to be difficult. 

“We didn’t create enough. We put pressure on them but we couldn’t penetrate enough in behind them and create big enough chances to score enough goals.

“We were not lacking inspiration. That magic. That was missing. That little bit extra. There wasn’t the space to run into, they defended well and fair play to them, take nothing away from them. We didn’t have the right ideas or solutions. They weren’t there. The performance-level wasn’t there, the tempo wasn’t there, the quality wasn’t there. 

“There were spaces we didn’t use and chances we could have made more of in the first half but, when you’re 1-0 down, you’re always chasing the game. They dropped deep and defended really well. I have to be fair enough to say they defended very well and we didn’t have the solutions to open them up.”

While Solskjaer accepted that his side were below par, he was adamant that decisions by the referee had a big impact on the outcome.

“It’s a foul on David [De Gea] if you look at it closely,” he said, referring to Sheffield United’s first goal.

“I didn’t see it live but, when you see the TV pictures, Billy Sharp has been around the block and just turns round and pushes David enough so he can’t get up. “Unfortunately, that’s football and how it is but then he disallows our goal [by Anthony Martial] and it’s another bad decision. That just sums up our night, it wasn’t to be. 

“It is this kind of season, inconsistencies. It is going to be unpredictable but that is two mistakes by the referee.”

United have come back from going behind to win seven times this season, but Sheffield United proved to be too hard to beat on Wednesday.

Solskjaer accepts that his team were ‘sloppy’ and did not have enough to mount another fightback.

“It wasn’t to be,” the former Manchester United striker noted.

“We felt the momentum was going our way as we dominated possession, dominated territory but couldn’t create big enough chances. If you don’t when you play against teams in the Premier League, you can get punished and it was a sloppy goal, a very sloppy goal to concede. 

“The second goal we conceded was just so poor. So sloppy. We lost the ball so easily. We get back into position but then we just stopped getting out to the ball. Absolutely three or four decisions there that were completely out of character. That is maybe down to the season it is as well.“

Manchester United remain in second place with 40 points from 20 matches, one point off leaders Manchester City who have a game in hand.

Sheffield United are rooted to the bottom with eight points from 20 matches, 10 points from safety.