Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has pinned the blame for Manchester United's 1-0 defeat by Arsenal on there being no fans at Old Trafford.
United were downed by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's penalty in the 69th minute, after Paul Pogba was penalised for a clumsy challenge on Hector Bellerin.
The Red Devils showed none of the attacking fluency they exhibited in the 5-0 win over Leipzig in midweek, with Solskjaer admitting the performance was "sloppy".
But the United boss claimed the result could have gone the other way if there had been fans present, insisting home and away form has been turned upside down by the lack of supporters.
Solskjaer said: "From the first half we never turned up. They were better than us. A couple of half decent chances, second half it didn’t look like they would score other than penalty, we have to turn up with more intensity.
"That might be a reason, when you think you have played well you take foot off the pedal, but that’s now how it works. We weren’t at the races.
"Today we were too sloppy, too many passes went astray, too many things that can go wrong went wrong for us.
Do you agree with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's explanation for Manchester United's defeat to Arsenal? Have your say here.
"There is a reason behind big squads in football, you want to perform time and again but that’s not possible. We need that consistency.
"Home and away form is out the window really with no fans in the stadium. You cant really look at that, just look at the stats. It doesn’t mean too much, we need to get points on the board. We need to focus on Everton next week."
Solskjaer's lamenting of the lack of fans at Old Trafford comes just one week after he made similar comments following the 0-0 draw with Chelsea.
"If we had that stadium or the Stretford End full we could have created more urgency," the Norwegian said after the stalemate with the Blues.
"It lacks, that game lacks. You're here watching the game and it's a different sport. We miss the fans.
"It's the same for all teams but everyone agrees that football now has a little less in it, the edge has gone and we can't wait to get the fans back."
Sign up to the Mirror Football email here for the latest news and transfer gossip.
.png?w=600)
