After putting an end to Manchester City‘s 21-game winning streak, the coach of Manchester United, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes that United can not catch up with City at the summit of the Premier League table.
On Sunday, March 7, 2021, coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took Manchester United to the Etihad Stadium to play against an in-form Manchester City side. To the surprise of most football fans, coach Pep Guardiola and his boys couldn’t do much but to allow United to walk away with a 0-2 victory.
A goal scored from the spot-kick through the boots of Bruno Fernandes in the 2nd minute of the game, and Luke Shaw’s 50th-minute strike was enough to return Pep Guardiola and his men to the drawing board.
Before the Manchester derby, first placed Manchester City were leading second-placed Manchester United with 14 points difference. But with the win at the Etihad Stadium, the gap has been reduced to 11. There are still about 30 points left for Manchester United and Manchester City to fight for before this season ends.
Yet, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said after the game that Manchester City are not the kind of team that would give up totally on their 11-point gap for United to overtake them. Hence, he praised City despite the 0-2 victory over them.
“We just take one game at a time; City are too far ahead for us to think we can catch them”, Solskjaer told Sky Sports. “Last year we caught 15 points up on Leicester, but City are a different proposition.
“Even today they put us under so much pressure you could see we were playing against a very good team. When you come away with a 2-0 win and another clean sheet and a performance like this then you are delighted.
“Every game is different. We went back to be a little bit what we wanted to be and that’s being direct. That was the Anthony Martial of old. Until two hours before warm-up, I wasn’t sure if he’d play. Today he rediscovered himself. He was really strong on the ball and very positive.
“We have to be positive, we’re a positive team. We want to play at a high tempo, but we have to defend well, you have to defend to attack the spaces that appear. There has to be a collective, no team in world football has a chance against them [City] without being a collective, hungry team who knows you have to defend well but also be positive on the ball.”
Tactical masterclass ✅
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) March 7, 2021
🔴 #MUFC
#️⃣ #MCIMUN pic.twitter.com/ZCzPqSkbkt
On the other hand, the coach of Manchester City, Pep Guardiola was left dumb-founded after the 0-2 defeat at the hands of Manchester United. However, the Spanish tactician noted that Manchester City played better.
“We will be the news because we lost”, Guardiola said. “But the news is 21 victories in a row. There are still 30 points to play and we have to start to win again.
“That’s football. Sometimes it happens. We played much better than the game against West Ham which we won.
“It’s always the same. We win a game and then move onto the next one. It’s the same here. We lose this so we go to the next one. It’s a lesson. Even at 0-2 we played really well.”
