SHAW: WE’LL BE BRIGHTER
Reds look to improve on rapid return to Amex
LUKE SHAW knows Manchester United must raise their game tonight if they are to beat Brighton for the second time in five days.
They sneaked past Albion 3-2 on Saturday, needing a 100th-minute penalty scored after the final whistle had gone.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men return to the Amex tonight, with Shaw accepting the need for a muchimproved team performance.
“It was a very important game points-wise, although obviously we as players and the manager know we can perform much better,” said the left- back. “The most important thing was the three points. But we need to be performing better.
“Brighton are a really good team, played really good football and had a lot of chances. But we dug deep and kept going.”
While the Premier L League and Champions L League remain priorities, S Shaw (left) acknowledged t the EFL Cup’s importance. “Of course it’s a c competition we want to w win,” he told MUTV “But I think it gives the manager an opportunity to give chances to players on the bench and on the fringe, who are training very hard. We’ve a very strong squad with players ready to take their chance.”
Solskjaer stoked up his war of words with Jose Mourinho by having a dig at Spurs getting a bye to this stage of the competition when their third round opponents Leyton Orient were hit by an outbreak of coronavirus.
He had taken a swipe at the Tottenham boss when he complained the goals for the Europa League win over Shkendija in Macedonia were 5cm too low.
Mourinho responded by suggesting United were too reliant on penalties and that his successor at Old Trafford would like the 18yard box extended to 22 yards.
Asked about progress in the EFL Cup, Solskjaer said: “It depends how you want to get there. You’ve teams getting there, even without playing, even to this round.”