Solskjaer sorry to see wasteful United surrender streak
Norwegian laments missed chances as unbeaten run shot down by Gunners
LONDON — Ole Gunnar Solskjaer blamed Manchester United’s lack of ruthlessness in front of goal as the Norwegian fell to his first domestic defeat as caretaker manager in a 2-0 loss at Arsenal on Sunday.
Granit Xhaka’s early strike and a second-half Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang penalty saw the Gunners leapfrog United into the Premier League’s top four.
Unai Emery’s side also closed to within a point of third-place Tottenham and now holds the upper hand over United in the race for Champions League qualification.
Arsenal won’t face any of the top six in its remaining eight league games, but United hosts leader Manchester City and sixth-place Chelsea in the coming weeks on top of its Champions League and FA Cup commitments.
“You have to be disappointed with the result, but the performance was good,” said Solskjaer.
“The first goal always dictates how the game goes. We created chances, big chances, hit the woodwork twice, (Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd) Leno played well.
“In terms of what you can control, we shouldn’t be too disappointed.”
European trips to France for both sides in midweek produced vastly contrasting results as United overturned a 2-0 first-leg deficit to shock Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 and progress to the quarterfinals of the Champions League on away goals.
The Gunners, on the other hand, went down 3-1 to Rennes to give themselves a mountain to climb in Thursday’s second leg to reach the last eight of the Europa League.
Emery made five changes from that side and was rewarded with a vital victory.
“We are going to play difficult matches and being consistent is very important,” said Emery, who won the Europa League three times with Sevilla.
“At the moment I think we are playing consistently, but we need to be calm and patient.”
De Gea ‘not distracted’
After a bright start, Arsenal was almost hit with a sucker punch in United’s first attack, only for Romelu Lukaku to turn Luke Shaw’s cross onto the bar.
At the other end, normally flawless United goalkeeper David de Gea was caught cold, failing to read the swerve on Xhaka’s long-range strike 12 minutes in.
Solskjaer rejected suggestions the Spaniard’s lapse could be attributed to his ongoing contract talks.
“David’s really focused and concentrated. He’s too professional to let his mind wander,” said the coach.
United seemed to feel the aftereffects of their heroics in Paris in the early stages, but soon clicked into gear to look more like the side that had just one loss in Solskjaer’s first 17 games in charge.
A Fred curler clipped a post before Leno blocked Lukaku as the United forward tried to round the German keeper.
Leno had an unconvincing start to life as Arsenal’s No 1, but has looked more assured in recent weeks and made another huge save to deny Lukaku from close range six minutes into the second half.
United dominated the first 20 minutes of the second period, but to Solskjaer’s frustration conceded a 69th-minute penalty when Alexandre Lacazette charged into the area and hit the turf under minimal contact from Fred.
“I don’t think there was enough contact to warrant the penalty,” said Solskjaer, while even Emery described the decision as “soft”.
Aubameyang missed a last-minute penalty in the drawn north London derby against Spurs, but made no mistake this time.
“I knew it would be tough, but I was really confident,” said the Gabon international.
Solskjaer’s time at United as a player and over the past three months as boss has been littered with late drama.
Marcus Rashford’s last-gasp penalty at PSG last Wednesday evoked memories of his manager’s winner in the 1999 final against Bayern Munich.
Both were Champions League moments that will live long in the memory, but there was no turnaround this time, leaving the Red Devils with plenty of work to do to qualify next season.