Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has explained Juan Mata stepped aside and allowed Fred to take a pivotal Manchester United free kick against Manchester City in the closing stages of Wednesday's Carabao Cup semi-final tie.
United led on the night through a Nemanja Matic strike to take the tie to 3-2 on aggregate. One more goal would have taken the contest to penalties and the visitors had the chance to do that when Harry Maguire was felled by Nicolas Otamendi on the edge of the box after 87 minutes.
The stage seemed set for Mata, who scored from a similar range against Newcastle and Juventus last season. Fred however took responsibility, blasting his effort into the City wall.
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Solskjaer admitted Mata is United's best free kick taker 'when he feels like it' but explained the Spaniard and Fred decided between themselves who would take the set piece.
"Juan is the best one when he feels like it," Solskjaer said. "But they practised yesterday [and] Juan told me Fred was unbelievable in training yesterday, he scored six or seven on the bounce and they both felt it was his moment.
"That was a decision they made there and then. Probably the right decision, just didn't work out well."
