Manchester United’s defending was unforgivable: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Latest Football News - The New Paper
Football

Manchester United’s defending was unforgivable: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said his team's defending in the first half of yesterday morning's (Singapore time) 2-1 Champions League Group H defeat by Istanbul Basaksehir was "unforgivable".

United went behind after 13 minutes in Turkey when Edin Visca's pass found Demba Ba on the halfway line, and with no United defenders in sight, he strode forward before finishing past Dean Henderson.

Basaksehir doubled their lead before the break when Juan Mata was dispossessed by Deniz Turuc, whose cut-back was dummied by Ba for Visca to power home.

Said Solskjaer: "The first one is that we play a short corner and forget about the man up top. That's unforgivable... We've not done our roles, it's my responsibility.

"You don't see goals like that at this level. You shouldn't concede easy goals like that. When you do, it makes winning matches a lot harder."

Former United midfielder Paul Scholes said their defending was "embarrassing".

"It's completely down to organisation. It's like Under-10s football. What the defence were doing I have no idea," he told BT Sport.

"The goal is comical, laughable."

His former teammate Rio Ferdinand agreed. The former England defender said on BT Sport: "Where is the organisation in this team? You wouldn't see this on Hackney Marshes!

"That's a goal you usually see when you're trying to get an equaliser on the 89th minute.

"I was flabbergasted seeing that. It's a lack of respect of yourself."

Fellow ex-United man Dion Dublin savaged the Red Devils' first-half showing, saying on the BBC: "The first half was possibly the worst performance I've seen from a Man United team for three or four years." - REUTERS

Football