Solskjaer: Pogba showed he can play with Fernandes

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer declared himself more satisfied with his side’s performance than the result after United’s strong finish to the game, with a resurgent Pogba’s arrival providing a significant influence in their second-half improvement, and the Frenchman finally able to link up with January signing Bruno Fernandes for the first time.

“Today Paul showed he could play with Bruno and Bruno again got a penalty and scored a goal,” he told Sky Sports.

“He’s delighted to be back on the pitch. He’s had a nine-to-10-month injury nightmare. It’s not been like you’re out for 10 months, it’s been I’m almost back, work hard, work hard, and then get back, get injured again and have an operation.

“He was close to coming back before the lockdown and now finally he’s back playing and I’m sure everyone can see he’s got great hunger for the game and he’s a very, very good footballer.

“I’m a bit disappointed we don’t come away with three points. It’s a strange football because last year we went to Wembley to play against Tottenham and they absolutely battered us for the last 40 minutes, half an hour and we got away with a win. Today it is quite the opposite.”

Sky Sports pundit and ex-United captain Roy Keane lambasted David De Gea’s mistake for Bergwijn’s opener in the Friday Night Football studio, but Solskjaer laughed off any criticism of his goalkeeper, who has made seven mistakes leading to goals since the start of last season, the most of any Premier League goalkeeper in that time.

“I’m disappointed that they scored the first time they had a chance, but the boy hit it really well, the ball moves,” he said in his post-match press conference. “Roy was a fantastic midfielder, he’s a good friend of mine, I’m not sure he would have stopped it either but that’s not the point.

“David is a bit disappointed with it, obviously, but if you see the ball, it was moving through the air, but we reacted well, and he made a good save a few minutes after.

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