Man Utd have found spark again: Solskjaer

MANCHESTER United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said his team had rediscovered their best form during Tuesday's 9-0 Premier League thrashing of Southampton after two disappointing results. Solskjaer's side came into the contest on the back of a goalless draw with Arsenal after a 2-1 defeat by bottom side Sheffield United, but turned on the style against Southampton to equal their 1995 win over Ipswich Town.

MANCHESTER — Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (pictured) said his team had rediscovered their best form during Tuesday's 9-0 Premier League thrashing of Southampton after two disappointing results.

Solskjaer's side came into the contest on the back of a goalless draw with Arsenal after a 2-1 defeat by bottom side Sheffield United, but turned on the style against Southampton to equal their 1995 win over Ipswich Town.

Southampton played with 10 men for the majority of the game, but ended with just nine.

“We have been waiting on them (the players) to show the magic and tonight was a night that they could go and enjoy,” Norwegian Solskjaer told BT Sport on Tuesday.

“Confidence is one thing, but it was about the mojo and spark, the X-factor. We haven't had too many of them where we could sit down and enjoy the football.

“They enjoyed it ... (there were) some good performances.”

Victory lifted the team to the top of the standings with 44 points, level with Manchester City who have two games in hand. It also boosted Manchester United's goal difference to 19 and Solskjaer said that could be important later in the season.

City beat Manchester United to the league title thanks to a better goal difference in the 2011-12 campaign after the teams finished level on points.

“You have to take your chances in tight or open games. You never know what might be the deciding factor,” Solskjaer said. “We know better than anyone what goal difference can do to you because we have lost the league on goal difference.”

Manchester United host eighthplaced Everton in the league on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta took the positives from his side's 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday, saying David Luiz's controversial red card for conceding a penalty on the stroke of halftime had turned the game upside down.

Arteta had every right to be scratching his head at the way his side's seven-game unbeaten Premier League run ended.

They were comfortably the better side and leading from Nicolas Pepe's superb opener when Luiz was adjudged to have brought down Willian Jose in the area.

Luiz was running behind the striker and any contact was purely accidental as Jose tumbled to the ground.

Ruben Neves converted the penalty and Joao Moutinho's wonder strike after the break gave Wolves the points as Arsenal ended with nine men after keeper Bernd Leno was sent off for handball after rushing out of his penalty area.

“Well it was a big decision. If they got it right and can justify that they got it right I hold my hand up and apologise,” Arteta told reporters. “I have just seen the replay 10 times in five different angles and I cannot see any contact.

“I would like to see if VAR has different angles. All I am saying is that I'm sitting here and I cannot see any contact and that's really, really frustrating because it's a big moment.

“Of course, it changed the game. You play with 10 men for 45 minutes without your central defender against this opposition of course it changes the game.”

While it was a bitter end to Arsenal's resurgence, their display before Luiz's dismissal was impressive with Bukayo Saka hitting the post and having a goal chalked off inside the opening 10 minutes while Pepe had another scorching effort turned against the bar by Wolves keeper Rui Patricio.

“I have to take the positives, the way the team is evolving, the way the team played against this opponent which is really difficult to attack, the amount of chances that we created,” he said. “But we leave the ground and have zero points and we've lost two important players.

”With nine players I saw players chasing the goalkeeper, it's incredible and I am so proud of them.”

For Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo it was relief after an eight-game winless run in the league — his worst run since taking them back into the top flight. —