Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says Paul Pogba should have been shot by Declan Rice “in the mush” instead of protecting his face with his hands to award a penalty against West Ham.
Pogba blocked Rice’s indirect free kick by raising her hands inside Manchester United’s area just before the break to allow Michail Antonio to put West Ham 1-0 up in the break.
Although Mason Greenwood equalized to secure a point for United and lift them to third place for the first time since September, United is only one point ahead of Leicester in fifth and travels to King Power Stadium on Sunday.
Pogba gave away a goal against Liverpool in January 2017 by driving inside his area and Solskjaer felt his reaction to Rice’s drive was instinctive. “It is a natural reaction, Paul raised his hand knowing he should have taken it in the mush, but it is a natural reaction when that ball flies off at 100 mph. It wouldn’t have made a difference anyway.
United was 16 points behind Leicester after their last league loss on January 22 with just 14 games remaining, but they are back in the top four for the first time in 10 months. Despite United’s disappointment of losing four points in its last two games at home, Solskjaer is optimistic about securing a top-four result this weekend.
“At halftime we knew that was not the result we wanted and a draw, or a 1-0 victory or a 2-0 victory was more or less the same result for us, and that we would have the same point of departure on Sunday.
“When we started after the block, we had to go for it, and we really had to. We had to go for the goal difference, we had to go on points, and the effort has been fantastic and the results have been fantastic.
“Of course you would like to win against Southampton, you concede in the last second, and today you concede in the last second of the first half. But we have given ourselves a fantastic opportunity and a great starting point for Sunday.” “
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