Ole Solskjaer was left disappointed after his side were stunned by bottom-placed Sheffield United at Old Trafford on Wednesday night.
Ole Gunnar blamed his side’s sloppy defending that cost them crucial three points against Sheffield United.
Prior to the fixture, the Red Devils were on a 13-game unbeaten run in the Premier League. No one could have predicted that an impressive run of games will come to an end at the hands of a Sheffield side with only one win all season.
Bryan gave Sheffield the shock lead in the 23rd minute after heading home past De Gea from close range.
Just after the hour mark, Harry Maguire scored his first Premier League goal at Old Trafford via a header to level matters in the 64th minute.
United looked primed for their usual comeback but this very evening was not to be their day.
Sloppy defending from the United defense gifted Burke a chance to fire towards goal and his effort took a deflection off Tuanzebe to put Sheffield back in the lead. The Blades did just enough to record a famous result as they held on for a 2-1 win over United. It was only their second win of the season.
Speaking after the game, Ole Solskjaer admitted his side were not at their best at Old Trafford.
“Disappointing. Well below par, of course, we started okay but then conceded the goal from maybe the first attack, a corner-kick,” he said to the club’s website.
“We had all the possession but when you concede two bad goals it is always going to be difficult. We didn’t create enough. We put pressure on them but we couldn’t penetrate enough in behind them and create big enough chances to score enough goals.”
For Sheffield’s first goal, De Gea claimed he was fouled in the build-up leading to the goal. Elsewhere, Martial saw a goal disallowed; one many felt should have stood. Ole Solskjaer also claimed these decisions impacted the outcome of the game.
“It’s a foul on David [De Gea] if you look at it closely. I didn’t see it live but, when you see the TV pictures, Billy Sharp has been around the block and just turns round and pushes David enough so he can’t get up,” he added.
“Unfortunately, that’s football and how it is but then he disallows our goal [by Anthony Martial] and it’s another bad decision. That just sums up our night, it wasn’t to be. It is this kind of season, inconsistencies. It is going to be unpredictable but that is two mistakes by the referee.”
As they seek to return to winning ways, United have a tricky tie at the weekend. The Red Devils travel to the Emirates to take on Arsenal and Solskjaer knows another difficult game is on the cards.
“No big inquest. Of course, we are disappointed. We have seen so many results this season being out of character and today, yes we’re surprised, but with the world as it is we have been very consistent,” he continued.
“We have been the most consistent team the last few months and it just hit us today. We dust off the sad feeling and go again. We’ll get over it tonight and start again tomorrow. Saturday it’s Arsenal and a big performance is needed as they’re in good form, good shape, and have done well against us before. We know we have to lift ourselves.”
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