Solskjaer relishes late winner at Brighton and asks for more
United’s haphazard performance against Brighton left much to be desired but while Solskjaer admitted his side still had plenty of improvements to make, he praised their efforts to find a goal after Solly March’s 95th-minute leveller.
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer urged his side to keep on pushing to score late goals after earning a barely deserved 3-2 win at Brighton & Hove Albion thanks to Bruno Fernandes' penalty in the 100th minute on Saturday.
United's haphazard performance against Brighton left much to be desired but while Solskjaer admitted his side still had plenty of improvements to make, he praised their efforts to find a goal after Solly March's 95th-minute leveller.
"That's a big thing for us compared to last season. We didn't win many games. We were the team that had the least defeats apart from Liverpool but too many draws so that's a big plus for us," Solskjaer told a news conference.
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"We've got to be honest enough to say they created the most chances, they had big chances so we need to improve a lot going forward."
Referee Chris Kavanagh had blown the fulltime whistle before going to the pitchside monitor and determining that Neal Maupay had handled in the area trying to defend a late United corner.
"I don't think we ever scored after the fulltime whistle but the handball was before the whistle so it was the right thing to do," added Solskjaer, who scored an injury-time winner for United against Bayern Munich in the 1999 Champions League final.
The Premier League win against Brighton recalled his side's incredible Champions League victory over Paris St Germain two seasons ago, when they were given a penalty deep in added time for a handball, also after a VAR review.
United lost their first game of the season 3-1 at home to Crystal Palace and Solskjaer admitted they were also poor against Brighton, who hit the woodwork five times, though he praised his side's spirit.
"We've got to be honest enough to say they created the most chances, they had big chances so we need to improve a lot in a few weeks coming forward," he said.
"We got away with one. Maybe one point we deserved, we didn't deserve more. But the character deserved more.
"We started playing after their first goal and the reaction to their second goal was great, we went straight up the other end and created the corner."
