Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was thrilled with how United coped without captain Harry Maguire and fellow centre half Eric Bailly, which resulted in a recall for the imperious Axel Tuanzebe on his first appearance in 10 months. United switched to a back three and, with the scoreline 1-1, switched to a 4-3-3 with the introduction of Paul Pogba, who assisted Marcus Rashford’s winner. He revealed Scott McTominay played with ‘one eye’ in the first-half of Manchester United’s Champions League triumph over Paris Saint-Germain as he lost a contact lens.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said “They’re in good form now. They’re good players and played really well against Newcastle, they laid the foundation for the win in that game and laid the foundation for today as well. Scotty played the first-half with one eye as well, that was the most impressive thing, because he lost his contact lens. That was impressive. Victor [Lindelof] and Axel are our central defenders and played tremendous, but Luke Shaw, normally a full-back, defended really well as a side centre-back. I’ve got no issues at all [in defence]. I’m very happy with my players. When you win games and perform well you get confidence, We’re going to go into that game with confidence. Not surprised with Bruno Fernandes taking penalty. But, of course, you know he’s got great character, as you saw at Newcastle and I was sure he would want to take it again. No nerves from that boy. I think he’s a fantastic person, really good football player as well but a winner, good character. He helps everyone around him and wants the best for the team and is a leader.”
McTominay and Fred started in a midfield axis at the Parc des Princes again 19 months after their partnership underpinned United’s round-of-16 comeback against PSG. Solskjaer played the duo in Saturday’s 4-1 victory over Newcastle United and entrusted McTominay and Fred over Paul Pogba, Nemanja Matic and summer signing Donny van de Beek. McTominay, 23, was booked in the first-half but maintained discipline against PSG’s fleet-footed trio of Angel Di Maria, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe and Solskjaer revealed the Scot’s vision was impaired in the first-half. Manchester United have started a pivotal period with two fabulous away wins ahead of the visits of Arsenal, RB Leipzig and Chelsea over the next 10 days and Solskjaer is bullish again after the demoralising thrashing by Tottenham.
