Solskjaer Names Issue With Manchester United Performance Against Villa

Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has said that Aston Villa were too dominant in parts as his team were held to a 2-2 draw on Sunday.

Villa took the lead through Jack Grealish’s curled effort and eventually made it 2-2 through Tyrone Mings’ first Premier League goals after a Tom Heaton own goal and Victor Lindelof’s header.

The result leaves United in 9th in the Premier League table and six points away from the relegation zone but speaking to reporters after the match, Solskjaer backed his young team to improve.

“We didn’t go out together as a team,” the manager said. “We should have done better. These boys will learn and improve.

“Sometimes inconsistency will happen with young boys. We failed to control the game at times but we can’t do anything about that now.

“We have to work on us as a team and become a better unit. Aston Villa had too many counter-attacks for my liking.”

United sit eight points adrift of the top four and asked if his side can reach the Champions League qualification places, Solskjaer added: “That will take care of itself in the end.

“We have to be better, we have to work as a team and become a better unit. Today it was end to end, we were exciting going forward but we should have controlled the game more.”

United have only won four games out of 14 in the Premier League, with a sixth draw – a second in as many league games – representing another blow in their season.

Their run of fixtures gets tougher too, with a match against Tottenham on Wednesday followed by a trip to champions Manchester City next Saturday.

As for Villa, their latest point lifts them onto 15 points and into 15th place, with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge up next for Dean Smith’s side.