MANCHESTER UNITED MANAGER Ole Gunnar Solskjaer saluted Scott McTominay for a “fantastic” performance in Wednesday’s 1-0 Champions League quarter-final first-leg defeat to Barcelona.

A first-half Luke Shaw own goal proved decisive at Old Trafford, as the left-back glanced Luis Suarez’s header past the helpless David de Gea.

Thereafter United produced a promising display, particularly in midfield as they went toe-to-toe with the Spanish champions.

Poor service resulted in a lack of chances, however, and that cost United, but Solskjaer was impressed with some performances, particularly McTominay’s.

“Fantastic,” Solskjaer said of McTominay on BT Sport. “Every time he plays for us he’s improving, on the ball as well.

“He’s a great athlete, he can run all day long, he wins challenges, he’s quick on his feet and today with the ball he was composed, brought the ball down a few times. He started settling us, to be fair.”

McTominay was in a fiery mood after the game, accusing United of showing Barca too much respect, before also reminding their opponents that the tie is far from over.

“In the first 10, 15 minutes we showed them far too much respect in terms of how we set about to go and press,” McTominay added.

“After that we adapted really well and started to take control of the game and did really well, obviously looked the better side. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a goal when were on top.

“We’re Manchester United, you can never write us off. They’ve top class players, but so have we and we’re going to showcase that in the second leg at Camp Nou.”

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