We were awful and lucky, says Shaw

MANCHESTER UNITED are demanding better performances after squeezing past AC Milan to reach the Europa League quarter-finals last night. Luke Shaw admitted United were ‘awful’ in the first half at San Siro and he hailed the match-defining impact of Paul Pogba. Pogba came off the bench at the break, scoring within three minutes of his return from a hamstring injury that kept him out for six weeks. ‘We’re happy that we’re through but I’ll be honest, and the lads and staff will agree, we weren’t good at all,’ Shaw said. ‘We were awful in the first half. The first 10-15 minutes we started well. It was like a switch, we turned off. ‘We were very sloppy, kept giving away balls and bringing pressure on ourselves. Maybe we were lucky. ‘The second half was a bit better and it always helps when you have a world-class player like Paul to come on and make the difference. We know we need to be better than tonight.’ Shaw’s comments should serve as a positive message for Ole

Gunnar Solskjaer, who takes United to Leicester City on Sunday hoping to reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup. United have conceded just one goal in their last seven matches, with Dean Henderson staking a serious claim to retain the No 1 shirt. ‘I’m very happy with our defensive foundation, and that gives you the platform to win games,’ Solskjaer said. ‘Dean made a fantastic save from the big lad (Zlatan Ibrahimovic).’ Solskjaer confirmed that Marcus Rashford was withdrawn at half-time after suffering ‘a little twinge’.