OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER hailed a dominant first-half performance from Manchester United against Tottenham, describing it as his side’s best display “for a long time”.
United were without a win in their last three fixtures in all competitions coming into a first meeting with Jose Mourinho since his sacking at Old Trafford.
The Portuguese described his reception as “nice and polite” but Solskjaer’s men ended his winning start at Spurs with a 2-1 success, scoring early in both halves through the inspired Marcus Rashford.
Dele Alli netted a wonderful equaliser six minutes before half-time, which Solskjaer acknowledged was tough to take after controlling the game to that point. “Especially first half, that’s probably the best we’ve played for a long time,” he told Prime Video.
“We dominated the game and could have, should have finished the game there and then. There were some great saves by their keeper, but they get the goal right before half-time and you think about getting in here, settling all the heads and going again.”
The United manager added: “We’re best when we’re on the front foot, we’re best when we attack quickly, we’re best when we’re aggressive. I thought the boys followed the plan and executed their skills all night.”
Solskjaer praised a “fantastic performance” from Rashford, who drew several further saves from Paulo Gazzaniga.
The England international was delighted to deliver against another ‘Big Six’ side, although he recognised United must still make progress against lesser opponents, having drawn with Sheffield United and Aston Villa in their previous two league matches.
“I think that’s the hardest we’ve had to work to get a result,” he said. “But with the position we’re in now, we want these games. We want to show people we can play against the top teams. We know we need to improve against the other teams. Game by game, we’re trying to improve.”
Mourinho, meanwhile, expressed his disappointment with the outcome: “It’s a step back against a team that is playing with the same objective as us, trying to get up the table and reach the top six,” he said.
“We need to keep going. We made mistakes but it’s not good to be crying about them now.”
