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Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer saw the funny side of his team’s painstaking attempts to defeat a stubborn West Ham side at Old Trafford.
Man Utd earned a vital victory over West Ham that widened the gap to fifth place to nine points.
The contest did not live up to the expectations of two teams battling for the Champions League qualification.
However, Man Utd had the best of the game’s limited opportunities, with Mason Greenwood hitting the wood twice.
Craig Dawson’s own goal ultimately proved decisive as the Red Devils jumped ahead of Leicester after their 5-0 thrashing over Sheffield Utd earlier in the day.
FULL MATCH REPORT: Fortune favors Man Utd as own goal settles wary West Ham contest
Talking to Sky sports After the match, Solskjaer He said: “As expected, they will always make it difficult for you. We could have been more comfortable towards the end as we had some decent chances to finish it off. We like to make it difficult for ourselves! “
Man Utd seemed quite off the beat in the early stages, and the Norwegian revealed what basic rationale led to his improved visualization thereafter.
“It’s about not giving them turnovers all the time,” he added. “In the first 15 minutes we gave the ball away every time we attacked. It was a good set-play and we scored. You don’t have to open up stupidly because you know they are a threat on the counter, so we stayed calm and organized.
“We created great opportunities, but the final pass or shot was not good enough. It could have been two or three easily. But then it could have ended up on our network in the end as they are a threat.
“We know West Ham is a challenge to be in the top four so it was a great result and we kept a clean sheet again. Experience and confidence will come. Great week, Europa League and FA Cup, so we are looking forward to it. Hopefully they get some players back and do a good performance ”.
McTominay insists there is no shame in Manchester United’s fight
Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay also spoke to the press, saying Sky sports: “It is very important to win a difficult third game in a week.
“They got on well and have good players. The message at halftime was to keep playing at the tempo we can play at. It’s about not getting frustrated.
“When you play against teams that sit down, you have to play at the rate you can play. We did everything we could to keep pushing. “
Regarding the Man Utd goal that McTominay seemed to land a close shot to the post, the Scotsman replied: “It wasn’t my goal, I know. Sometimes you have a lucky one like that. “
On the race for the top four, he concluded: “We have had too many [late goals conceded] this season.
“There is no shame in a difficult game against West Ham. Sometimes it’s the way to win, you can’t always win four or five to zero. A third game in a week is one you just have to win. Manchester City have had a good run and we are doing everything we can to try to keep them up. “
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