Ole Gunnar Solskjaer defends Man United signing after Wolves incident
Man United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer leaps to the defence of Daniel James after his booking at Wolves on Monday night
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has defended Daniel James after the Manchester United winger was booked for diving at Wolves on Monday night.
The Red Devils boss opted to start the 21-year-old for the first time since James moved to Manchester United in a £17m deal from Championship side Swansea City in the summer transfer window.
James acquitted himself well against Wolves by providing a constant threat down the right side of the Manchester United midfield in Monday night’s Premier League clash.
However, the summer signing couldn’t inspire a winner after Marcus Rashford’s opening goal was cancelled out by Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves at Molineux Stadium.
James was booked in the first half when the Welsh winger was adjudged to have dived following a clash with Wolves midfielder Joao Moutinho.
However, Manchester United manager Solskjaer felt the decision to caution James for the dive was unfair.
“For me, we never got a foul on the first one,” Solskjaer is quoted as saying by Metro.
“They got a counter-attack, he was fouled, and they got a chance from it almost.
“He’s that quick and he gets kicked so many times that it’s natural sometimes to protect himself. I haven’t seen [the ‘dive’] other than live. And, for me, how many fouls did he suffer today? How many times did they go through him?
“I have got absolutely no problem if he sometimes tries to avoid being kicked.”
James scored on his Manchester United debut off the bench in their 4-0 victory over Chelsea FC earlier this month.
The Wales international will be hoping to make his second successive start in the Premier League when Manchester United take on Crystal Palace at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon.
Manchester United signed James, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Harry Maguire in the summer transfer window.
