Ole: We don’t need another zero
10 GAMES UNBEATEN, BUT RECENT LACK OF GOALS HAS SCUPPERED REDS’ TITLE TILT
OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER has dismissed concerns over his strikeforce – despite Manchester United failing to score in four-and-ahalf hours.
United’s last three games have ended goalless, while Solskjaer’s side have scored just once in seven matches against the Premier League’s ‘Big Six’ this season – and that from the penalty spot.
Despite the woeful run, which threatens to be extended tomorrow against runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City, Solskjaer defended his players and pointed to their 10-game unbeaten run. “We’ve had a week without scoring a goal,” said the Red Devils boss. “It’s not like we’ve gone six weeks with bad form. “Not long ago, we won 9-0 against Southampton and 4-0 against a Real Sociedad team that should have won against Real Madrid at the weekend.
“So it’s the opposition you play, the amount of games you’ve played, but I’m not buying into the narrative we’ve had such a dip in form.
“Yes, three 0-0s isn’t us really, that’s not what we set out to do. We’ve defended well, but lacked that spark to create chances to score, but I don’t buy that we’re out of form.
“Three or four weeks ago, we couldn’t defend, then we were really well attackingwise – that was the narrative anyway.
“Now the narrative is that we can’t score a goal. It’s been a week. We’ve still gone 10 games unbeaten.”
While City are set for a third Premier League title in four years, United must go back to 2013 in Sir Alex Ferguson’s final season in charge for the last time they were champions.
City have finished above United every season since, with Solskjaer’s men no nearer to ending that sequence, despite being 10
points better off now than at this stage last year.
Ex-United striker Dimitar Berbatov said the failure of Solskjaer’s men against the ‘lesser’ teams has cost them any chance of the title, rather than their inability to score against the ‘bigger’ sides.
“If you don’t win your matches against smaller teams, with all due respect to Crystal Palace, then the gap gets bigger and bigger,” Ber- batov (left) told Betfair. “Until the point where there’s nothing else you can do but surrender your hopes of winning the title.
“City have shown they can do that. Look at the match against Wolves. City were 1-0 up, then it was 1-1, but they continued to push and play their way, and in the end they scored a few more goals and won.
“These are the games teams at the top need to win, but United are dropping unnecessary points, against Palace, West Brom and Sheffield United.
“It’s now a 14-point gap and it’s too much, especially with the form City are in. It’s impossible to catch them.”