Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was full of praise for his Manchester United players as they ran out comfortable 5-1 winners over Cardiff City at the Cardiff City Stadium.
Many were wondering prior to kick off how United would set up under their new manager, and they got off to the perfect start as Marcus Rashford struck a stinging free kick from around 35 yards out into Neil Etheridge's bottom corner after just three minutes. United soon doubled their lead thanks to Ander Herrera's deflected long-range strike which looped into the top corner.
Cardiff got themselves a lifeline after Victor Camarasa converted from the penalty spot on the stroke of half time to halve the lead, however their joy was short lived when Anthony Martial completing a lovely flowing move from United just three minutes later to restore their two-goal advantage heading into the half time break.
Just 10 minutes into the second half United won a penalty themselves which Jesse Lingard duly dispatched, and the Englishman completed the rout in injury time as United ran out comfortable 5-1 winners.
Night, Reds ❤️ #MUFC pic.twitter.com/dXl0HGR3FD
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) December 22, 2018
When asked by Sky Sports whether there were any positives to take from the game, Solskjaer laughed and said: “There’s quite a few! The attitude and application of the boys when you go out there and see them, the attitude has been fantastic, the dressing room, the way they approached this game.
“It’s been a difficult week for everyone and to get the focus and perform as well as they did [is impressive].”
The Red Devils seemed to play with a renewed sense of confidence after the departure of Jose Mourinho, and Solskjaer was quick to praise his entire squad.
He added: “I’m pleased with all of them – every single one of them – but of course it’s a threat. When you’ve got Martial and Jesse Lingard down either side, Rashford up top with Paul supporting them, it’s exhilarating to watch and as long as we keep that standard up we’ll keep picking up points.
.@JesseLingard has 4️⃣ goals in his last 4️⃣ #PL outings!
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) December 22, 2018
💪💪💪💪 pic.twitter.com/DlYk8AC33U
"We’ll take one game at a time but we’re eight points behind and we’ve caught up teams before at this club."
It was the perfect start for Solskjaer as United manager, and he'll be hoping for more of the same from his players when his side host Huddersfield Town at Old Trafford on Wednesday afternoon in the Premier League.
Source : 90min