Boss won’t be Gunning for blunder boy De Gea
BY DARREN LEWIS
OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER refused to criticise David De Gea for the gaffe that gifted Watford their first home win for nine months.
The Manchester United keeper let Ismaila Sarr’s shot slip through his hands for the opener.
Troy Deeney then sealed a 2-0 Hornets win from the spot to leave United seven points off the top four.
Solskjaer, whose squad turned up to Vicarage Road half an hour late, said: “It was just a ball that slipped through David’s hands. A routine mistake.
“He might have been thinking about where he was going to go from there.
“But you can’t be angry with players making mistakes. It is part of life and part of football.”
Watford joined West Ham, Crystal Palace, Newcastle and Bournemouth in beating the Reds while struggling towards the foot of the table.
And defender Harry Maguire said: “We have to be better against these so-called lower sides who have a deep block.”
Not even the return of Paul Pogba as a substitute could raise United, who failed to get a shot on target until they trailed 2-0.
Asked why his side had been so poor after four wins out of five, including victories over Spurs and Manchester City, Solskjaer said: “The first half was like my testimonial. Too slow, subdued, no urgency.
“You can’t blame the incident in traffic either. Is that going to affect us? I don’t think so.”
Watford’s win moved them to within six points of safety and new boss Nigel Pearson believes the Hornets can stay up.
He said: “We are in a difficult situation but I believe we can get out of it. We needed that win badly.”