Solskjaer celebrated his 50th win in all competitions for Manchester United on Tuesday, but not as quickly as Mourinho did.
A 3-0 win over Luton Town in a third-round Carabao Cup tie on Tuesday night sealed Manchester United passage into the next round, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer a 50th victory at the helm.
What made the Norwegian reaching the half-century mark so significant was that he became the third quickest manager to do so. Only Ernest Mangnall (78 games) and Jose Mourinho (81 games) have delivered 50 wins quicker.
The latter, of course, was replaced by Solskjaer in December 2018 following a torrid start to the 2018/19 campaign.
50 – Ole Gunnar Solskjær has won 50 of his 92 games in charge of Manchester United across all competitions – only Ernest Mangnall (78 games) and José Mourinho (81 games) have reached 50 managerial wins in fewer matches for the Red Devils. Milestone. #CarabaoCup pic.twitter.com/cghzM4GMwc
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 22, 2020
The 47-year-old enjoyed a stunning start to life in the Red Devils dugout as interim coach, matching the legendary Sir Matt Busby’s feat in 1946 by winning his first five league games in charge.
Further positive results, including the famous comeback victory against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on March 2019, secured Ole a three-year contract as the permanent manager of United.
Things have since been relatively successful, even if he has no silverware to show for it. Take last season, for example. It got off to a bumpy start, but ended with United embarking on a 14-match unbeaten run to finish a respectable third in the Premier League. Although the semi-final exits in the EFL Cup, FA Cup, and Europa League were a sore sight.
This season hasn’t exactly been a dream start either, amid an unsuccessful transfer window. However, United avoided an upset at Luton by securing a 3-0 victory; even if the scoreline was a rather flattering one for the visitors.
“They made us work hard for it,” Ole told MUTV. “But that’s what we need, we need to get competitive games and minutes into the legs of our players because normally we’re in a pre-season after such [a] short training [period] and pre-season games are different.
“So I was happy with the competitive nature of this game and of course happy to go through because we’ll get another chance next midweek to get more match minutes into players.”
A Juan Mata penalty put United in the first-half before debutant goalkeeper Dean Henderson denied Tom Lockyer the chance to equalize for Luton with a brilliant one-handed save.
Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood then scored during the dying stages of the game to secure a 50th victory for Solskjaer.
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