Solskjaer hails Man Utd ‘intent’ after blitzing Istanbul Basaksehir

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer praised Manchester United for showing their intent from the off against Istanbul Basaksehir.

After losing the reverse fixture in embarrassing fashion, United were able to move on by claiming a 4-1 victory at Old Trafford.

Solskjaer’s men took a three-goal lead in the first half, setting themselves on their way to all three points. Now, they need just one more point to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League.

With United returning to European action for the first time since the international break, Solskjaer was impressed with the statement his players made.

He told BT Sport: “I felt first half we saw the intent straight away, they wanted to play and they enjoyed it.

“It’s a Champions League night at Old Trafford, you’d expect them to enjoy themselves. We scored some very nice goals, I’m pleased.”

Solskjaer gave starts to Donny van de Beek and Edinson Cavani, neither of whom have played from the first minute in the Premier League since their arrivals.

However, he was content with their displays against Istanbul Basaksehir, hinting that they are developing their chances of further gametime.

Solskjaer said: “The two are getting used to how we want them to play.

“Donny can play in different positions and Edinson is a good old fashioned number nine and we haven’t had that for a while and I was happy with how Anthony [Martial] played off the left.”

Two players who did not finish the match, though, were Victor Lindelof and Aaron Wan-Bissaka. Both defenders had to go off with injuries.

However, Solskjaer is hoping that neither will be too serious.

“Hopefully they’ll be ready for the weekend – it’s ankle for Aaron and back for Victor. There was no point taking anymore risks.”

United can qualify for the Round of 16 with one game to spare if they avoid defeat against PSG on matchday five. However, Solskjaer maintains they are aiming higher than that.

“We need one point, but of course we want to be top of the group but we’ll take it one game at a time.”


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Solskjaer happy to have multiple penalty takers

One of the main talking points from the game was when Bruno Fernandes declined the opportunity to take a penalty after already scoring two goals.

Fernandes allowed Marcus Rashford to take the penalty instead, thus missing the chance to score a hat-trick.

Solskjaer, however, is happy to have several players capable of scoring from 12 yards.

“Marcus is a very good penalty taker and Bruno is very confident. If Bruno wants to give it to Marcus then why not? Anthony Martial took one against Leipzig too – why not share it around?”

READ MORE: Bruno Fernandes explains why he let Marcus Rashford take Man Utd penalty