Solskjaer wanted United to attack
UNITED modified their attacking approach at half-time amid concern they were clinging on to a 1-0 lead against City.
Anthony Martial earned a penalty with just 35 seconds on the clock at The Etihad which was converted by Bruno Fernandes, but the Reds weathered a sustained spell of Blues dominance and were unconvincing on the counter-attack.
Within five minutes of the restart, Luke Shaw received Dean Henderson’s throw, sped past Joao Cancelo, exchanged passes with Marcus Rashford and doubled United’s lead.
The Reds were more incisive with their breakaways as they threatened to inflict a heavier defeat on City, eventually running out 2-0 winners.
“Every game lives its own life this season, it’s unpredictable, it can go up and down, that’s just human nature,” United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said. “When you get the 1-0 lead it sets a tone for the game. I thought we were excellent in the first 10 or 15 minutes, then settled into our shape, because we played too much on the result, and we adjusted that at halftime to be more positive again and the second goal was incredible.
“We’ve got to do everything we can to keep the performance levels up, of course.”
Their 2-0 triumph was viewed by many as a possible marker for next season, but Solskjaer is not looking past Thursday’s Europa League tie with AC Milan.
“None of these boys can look beyond Thursday,” Solskjaer stressed. “All we can think about is Thursday [against AC Milan]. One game at a time and see where we are at.”