Manchester United are two points behind champions and leaders Liverpool and opened up a prospect of a thrilling title race with Tuesday’s win.
MANCHESTER – Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was delighted with his side’s ability to grind out yet another late win after a stoppage time goal from Marcus Rashford condemned Wolverhampton Wanderers to a 1-0 defeat at Old Trafford on Tuesday.
It lifted United, who had scraped several road wins in similar fashion this term, to second in the standings. They are two points behind champions and leaders Liverpool and opened up a prospect of a thrilling title race.
Solskjaer was also cautious about United’s chances of winning their first league title since 2013 in Alex Ferguson’s last season in charge.
“I am very boring but we cannot get too far ahead of ourselves,” Solskjaer told the BBC. “We have got to a decent position at the moment but the season hasn’t even reached the halfway mark.
“It’s the first win in the league for me against them. There have never been many goals in the games but for me this is a big step forward, that you don’t play well but you win.
“It was a point we brought up early in the season in a meeting. We didn’t win many points towards the end of games and we have a tradition for it at this club.
“That has happened so many times at that end and now we have won quite a few points towards the end of games and that is both a mental and physical aspect.”
Solskjaer, who netted one of the most memorable late winners for United in a 2-1 victory against Bayern Munich in the 1999 Champions League final, pointed out that building a team capable of turning draws into wins was a demanding task.
“We’ve got a group now that is more robust both mentally and physically. We have gone through some tough training periods, played loads of games and they are getting fitter and fitter,” said the 47-year old Norwegian.
“The fitter you are the more you can do. But mentally as well it gives you a boost knowing you can win games towards the end. We didn’t perform as well as we wanted to but we won a game against a very difficult side to play against.”
United are at home to Aston Villa in their next game on Friday while Wolves visit Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.
Reuters
