Solskjaer explains what impressed him most in Man Utd’s pre-season win

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer noticed one key improvement in Marcus Rashford as the striker scored in Manchester United’s pre-season opener.

United strode to a comfortable 2-0 win over Perth Glory, with Rashford opening the scoring on the hour mark. And, speaking to MUTV, Solskjaer admitted it was exactly what he was looking for.

“I’m very pleased with the goal he scored,” he said. “It was instinctive. He swivels and finishes.

“It’s not one of those pretty goals, but it’s a goal that I’ve said that Marcus needs to add to his tally, because he scores wonder goals but when he can get five of these a season, hopefully he can get some like it in the league as well, he’ll add to his tally.”

The game presented fans with their first opportunity to see new signings Daniel James and Aaron Wan-Bissaka in the United shirt, and Solskjaer was particularly impressed with the former.

“He is sharp and he started well. It was a good start for him and we’ll nurture him and he’ll be exciting to watch for many, many games I think.”

Another James to impress was James Garner, the academy prospect who scored United’s second goal.

“It’s great for James,” he said. “We’d just had a corner kick and I said to him: ‘get on the edge of the box and score with your first touch’, but I think he had two, so I wasn’t happy with that one!

“It was a fantastic strike, the boy can play and he’s enjoying tonight.”

Overall, Solskjaer was pleased with the outcome from both a footballing and fitness standpoint.

“It was a game where we had the ball all the time more or less and we kept possession well,” he said.

“We played against a well-organised, disciplined team that didn’t really give us too many gaps. We created half-chances.

“We got 45 minutes of work for most of them, which was the main objective of today, and of course you always like to win games.”

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