Ole Gunnar Solskjaer praises Man United duo despite Arsenal loss
Man United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was pleased with Fred and Nemanja Matic despite Wednesday night's 2-0 loss at Arsenal
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has praised the performances of Fred and Nemanja Matic despite Manchester United’s 2-0 loss to Arsenal at The Emirates on Wednesday night.
The Red Devils slumped to their first defeat in three Premier League games to suffer a hammer blow in their bid to finish in the top four.
Solskjaer was forced to start Fred and Matic due to the absence of club-record signing Paul Pogba and Scotland international Scott McTominay.
Manchester United were convincingly beaten by Arsenal after Nicolas Pepe and Sokratis Papastathopoulos scored first-half goals at The Emirates.
Fred and Matic were deployed in a holding midfield role to thwart Arsenal’s creative midfielders from having a big say on the outcome of the Premier League clash.
Manchester United manager Solskjaer was pleased with his makeshift midfield despite their loss to Arsenal in their first Premier League fixture of the decade.
“Nemanja and Fred, if they play like [Wednesday night] I’m happy with them, because they played well the two of them,” Solskjaer told his post-match media conference at The Emirates.
“We’ve been without him [Pogba] all season so the boys who have been playing have been fantastic.
“It’s a big blow now that Paul is out when Scott is out because he will be out for a few months and that’s a big blow for us as well. Scotty has been magnificent.
“We just hope Paul could come back, he can’t, he’ll be back within a month-ish.”
Manchester United are in fifth spot in the Premier League table but five points adrift of fourth-placed Chelsea FC.
The Red Devils missed out on the chance to record three successive Premier League victories for the first time in the English top flight this term.
Manchester United signed Harry Maguire, Aaron Wan Bissaka and Daniel James in the summer transfer window.
