SM
Bayern vs. Augsburg: 19 hrs 9 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews
EL
Premier League | Gameweek 8
Nov 7, 2020 at 12.30pm UK
Goodison Park
MU

Everton
1 - 3
Man Utd

Bernard (19')
Holgate (34'), Allan (45+4'), Tosun (86'), Doucoure (88')
FT(HT: 1-2)
Fernandes (25', 32'), Cavani (90+5')
Fernandes (50'), Fred (83')

Solskjaer bemoans "absolute joke" of fixture schedule despite crucial win

:Headline: Solskjaer bemoans 'absolute joke' of fixture schedule despite crucial win: ID:421488: from db_amp
Manchester United delivered a morale-boosting 3-1 victory to ease the pressure on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, but he was not totally happy.

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has described the scheduling of their 3-1 victory over Everton as an “absolute joke”.

United returned from their embarrassing Champions League defeat against Istanbul Basaksehir in the early hours of Thursday morning yet had to kick off at Goodison Park at 12.30pm on Saturday.

Solskjaer blamed the quick turnaround for injuries to Luke Shaw (hamstring), Victor Lindelof (back) and Marcus Rashford (shoulder) as even a Bruno Fernandes double to ease the pressure on him as manager failed to raise the mood.

Bruno Fernandes went some way towards lifting the mood at United with a match-winning brace (Carl Recine/PA)

“How can you expect players to perform to the best of their ability when you send them out at 1230? Absolute joke,” he said.

“A month ago we tried to move this game. What sense is there for us to play on a Saturday when we could play on the Sunday and there is an international break afterwards?

“I can’t say enough how hard these times are for everyone, not just footballers, and we want to see football with quality.

“Our players were set up to fail today with the schedule. I pushed my club to really fight the kick-off time on this one to give us at least half a chance but it was quashed.”

United, who equalled the 1993 club league record of seven-successive away victories, led for longer in this match (58 minutes) than they have in their other six combined (43 minutes) after Fernandes’ goals put them ahead following Bernard’s opener, with substitute Edinson Cavani scoring his first for the club in second-half added time.

However, the victory was not without cost and Solskjaer left Goodison concerned about the fitness of at least three players.

“They will be assessed and hopefully it is not too serious but they (Shaw and Rashford) looked in a bad way there towards the end,” he added.

“It doesn’t look great. Victor hopefully is not too bad but it is his back as well.

“When it is a serious injury it is not worth the points but we got the three points today and the boys were not going to give anyone the chance to take three points off us as they were so determined.

“I don’t really want to lighten the mood. I think it is such a serious issue, they are not robots they are human beings and they are asked to perform.

“Towards the end of the game we didn’t have the intensity to our game.

“Bruno is a leader and showed a lot of desire and the reaction from everyone was great today.”

Everton, the Premier League’s early pace-setters, have now taken just one point from their last four matches and conceded at least two goals in each of their last five games.

Manager Carlo Ancelotti, who has lost three-successive league matches for the first time since November 2006 with AC Milan, was not happy with their defending.

“It was not a good performance in one aspect and that was defensively. After we scored a goal we were not able to defend properly,” said the Italian.

“It is quite clearly a problem and we have to sort this.”

amp_article__421488 : Database Data restored...  : 
last updated article - 2020-11-07 16:08:03:
html db last update - 2020-11-07 16:08:03 :

ex - 7200 : read : read cache amp html

Click here for more stories about Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

Click here for more stories about Manchester United

Share this article now:
Recommended Next on SM
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool119112161528
2Manchester CityMan City117222213923
3Chelsea115422113819
4Arsenal115421812619
5Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest115421510519
6Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton115421915419
7Fulham115331613318
8Newcastle UnitedNewcastle115331311218
9Aston Villa115331717018
10Tottenham HotspurSpurs1151523131016
11Brentford115152222016
12Bournemouth114341515015
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd114341212015
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham113351319-612
15Leicester CityLeicester112451421-710
16Everton112451017-710
17Ipswich TownIpswich111551222-108
18Crystal Palace11146815-77
19Wolverhampton WanderersWolves111371627-116
20Southampton11119721-144
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .