Here are your Manchester United headlines for the evening of Saturday, November 7.
Solsksjaer says United have been “set up to fail”
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer launched an impassioned rant after Manchester United’ s 3-1 victory at Everton, questioning how the authorities have scheduled his side’s fixtures.
Having lost 2-1 away to Istanbul Basaksehir on Wednesday, Solskjaer’s side didn’t have much of a turnaround before their trip to Goodison Park in the early Saturday kick-off slot.
The Norwegian questioned why rivals Manchester City and Liverpool, who played in the Champions League on Tuesday, weren’t scheduled until tomorrow, and suggested the fixture congestion led to the injury suffered by Luke Shaw.
"We were set up to fail," he told BT Sport.
"I said to you before, I want to talk about the kick-off time. They set up the boys to fail. We've got Luke Shaw injured today because we've been to Turkey, we've played loads of games already this season, we've been to Turkey on Wednesday night, back in Thursday morning and we're playing Saturday in a lunchtime kick-off, it's an absolute shambles.
"I can't praise the boys enough for the character they've shown. Those boys deserve better than being thrown out here to fail."
Here’s what he said in full .
Maguire singled out for praise
Solskjaer picked out his captain, Harry Maguire, for praise after the victory at Goodison Park.
The 27-year-old has come under criticism this season but did well to shackle his in-form England team-mate Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who came into the fixture joint top of the Premier League scoring charts with eight goals.
But the Everton striker failed to register a shot on target, and mustered just one attempt all game, while David de Gea didn’t make a single save.
"I thought Harry’s performance was top," the United manager said. "Of course, against - for me - one of the best in the world at aerial play. Calvert-Lewin, with his timing in the air, his jump, his spring and his athleticism.
"And I thought we as a backline defended really well against him. Very pleased with Harry and the rest of them back there."
The Norwegian also praised Bruno Fernandes after the two goals he scored, praising his leadership and desire.
Greenwood’s absence explained
Mason Greenwood was too unwell to feature against Everton today.
That was the explanation given by Solskjaer , who said the 19-year-old forward was not well enough to travel to Merseyside.
He featured for 75 minutes in last weekend’s 1-0 defeat to Arsenal, and for the final 15 minutes in Istanbul in midweek, but was unable to play in today’s outing.
"Mason wasn't feeling well last night," Solskjaer told BT Sport post-match.
"He reported not well and couldn't travel.”
