Solskjær made nine changes: fought for a one goal win – VG

After 0-2 for Manchester City in the league cup midweek, Solskjær’s fourth semi-final loss as United manager, the Norwegian traded nearly the entire squad before Elton John’s championship squad visit Old Trafford.

He just held on. And Scott McTominay, the only outfielder retained in the City’s eleven of the game, headed in the only goal of the game in a well-executed manner after a corner from left-back Alex Telles as early as five minutes.

– We work a lot with dead balls. I have to score more in the titles, says McTominay to the BBC, pointing to his own height of 193 centimeters.

It was good to have the management for the local team. For Watford it was horrible enough to deal with United’s B team.

– There are many reasons. We start to complicate things, we send one and two men on the attack when we shouldn’t, and they counter us a couple of times. There will be a small heart in the throat. They have a couple of players who are very, very fast, like Sarr and Gray, Ole Gunnar Solskjær tells Viasat afterwards.

Juan Mata should have doubled the lead when Donny van de Beek kicked the Spaniard alone with the Watford Bachmann goalkeeper just before half-time, but the latter stopped him. At the opposite extreme, Watford didn’t create the best opportunities, but he still had some approaches to the dangers.

United also failed to defuse the tension after the break, and in his 11th FA Cup game as United manager, Solskjær apparently took no chances – he threw Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford in the final 20 minutes in hopes of calming the pulse. from the bank.

It resulted in nothing more than an abused Rashford opportunity. Appropriate enough for a rather boring soccer game, where United limped ashore. The fourth round opponent will be ready during Monday night’s drawing.

– We made some wrong decisions, but in the end we won, sums up Solskjær.

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Norwegian star, playmaker and scorer Bruno Fernandes was able to rest on the bench throughout the match, while captain Harry Maguire probably had to play more than planned. The midfielder had to enter just before the break when Eric Bailly was injured and had to leave.

Already on Tuesday, there is a new Premier League game against Burnley. Then there is the main match against reigning champion Liverpool next Sunday. Thus, Solskjær will be able to use his stable in January.

– They need combat training. The more matches they play, the better you do, says Solskjær, suggesting that Bailly could lose matches next week after sustaining a serious neck injury in a clash with former Haugesund giant William Troost-Ekong and United goalkeeper. Dean Henderson.

In any case, Ole Gunnar Solskjær sees progress in the United team, which for the first time in several seasons can enter the second half of the league season as a serious title challenger.

– We have improved in most things. The physical. We celebrate the games, we are much better trained. So faith is much better. We have brought in a couple of players who have raised their faith. Bruno, Cavani. They have made a difference, Solskjær explains to Viasat.

Philip Zinckernagel got his first match for Watford after Bosman’s transfer from Bodø / Glimt. The Dane was on the left wing in a rather tight 4-4-2 and did not score hard, but has already been given dead ball responsibility at his new club. In the 76th minute, an error by the home left defense allowed Old Trafford to take the lead and overtook the home keeper, adding another goal for the visitors.

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