Solskjaer has beaten City and Chelsea may be the man to rebuild Manchester United

Solskjaer – The FA Cup fourth-round tie against Liverpool at Old Trafford in 1999 was the game that Gary Neville later claimed was the catalyst for Manchester United’s Treble.

The away team took an early lead through Michael Owen before Dwight Yorke equalised in the 88th minute. In injury time, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer did what he did best, and scored to put us through to the next round.

The 25-year-old Norwegian ran straight to the Stretford End, lifting the United badge on his shirt up to the crowd while getting mobbed by his delirious team-mates.

Twenty years later, on Saturday evening, we saw Solskjaer doing the same, pointing to the crest on his jacket in front of the away end at the Etihad, but this time as the manager. He had just watched his team beat City 2-1 in their own back yard.

Football is an emotional thing and it’s for this reason that Solskjaer has been offered more support than he otherwise would have, following a disappointing start to the 2019-20 campaign. The memories he created as a striker at the club, most notably during that Treble-winning season but beyond that too, have bought him time with the match-going crowd.

But emotion and loyalty can only get you so far, as Ryan Giggs learned when he was overlooked for the permanent position after taking charge on an interim basis when David Moyes was sacked.

He served his time as assistant manager under Louis van Gaal but it was Jose Mourinho who the club opted for next. Had Solskjaer lost against Tottenham on Wednesday and City days later, particularly by embarrassing scorelines, it’s hard to see how the club could have kept the faith for much longer, despite claims to the contrary. We’d be 13th in the table and freefalling.

Reports suggested that players had spoken to United’s hierarchy about their desire for Ole to stay in the post ahead of the win over Spurs and they certainly played as though that was the case.

The fans sang his name all game and he ran on to the pitch at the final whistle to celebrate with his players.

Scott McTominay talked of how much the players loved Solskjaer after the match of his determination to get a result against rivals City. Even when considering United’s results against the top sides this season, only the most optimistic of supporters would’ve been banking on victory at the Etihad.

Yet in that first half an hour United could and should have been four goals up and went in disappointed to only be leading by two at half-time. City fans felt the same in this fixture two years earlier and went on to lose 3-2, with their title-winning celebrations delayed by the Paul Pogba-inspired comeback. On Saturday, it felt unrealistic that United would be able to contend with the anticipated onslaught in the second half.

As good as United were on the counter-attack, and they were very, very good, the idea that they could withstand the pressure of City’s attacking force for 45 minutes and hold on to a win seemed unlikely.

Let’s not forget they couldn’t even prevent Sheffield United and Aston Villa scoring late goals against them in recent weeks. Yet somehow the defence managed it, with City keeper Ederson finishing the game having had more work to do than David de Gea at the opposite end.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka put in his best shift in a United shirt to date, winning the ball in positions he had no right to against the likes of Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne.

Source – https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/