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Manchester United vs Burnley: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer takes the positives from spirited comeback

Solskjaer was on the verge of suffering his first defeat as United’s caretaker with Sean Dyche’s visitors leading 2-0 with three minutes of normal time to play

Mark Critchley
Northern Football Correspondent
Wednesday 30 January 2019 00:21 GMT
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Solskjaer upbeat after Manchester United honeymoon nearly ended

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes Manchester United have answered one of the biggest questions of his caretaker spell so far after their comeback against Burnley.

Solskjaer was on the verge of suffering his first defeat as United’s caretaker with Sean Dyche’s visitors leading 2-0 with three minutes of normal time to play.

Burnley had taken a second-half lead through Ashley Barnes before Chris Wood doubled their advantage in the closing stages.

However, in the 87th minute, Paul Pogba reduced the arrears from the penalty spot after Jeff Hendrick had pulled Jesse Lingard down in the box.

Victor Lindelof then rescued a point for United in the second of five minutes added on, finishing on the rebound after Tom Heaton had saved from Alexis Sanchez.

After winning his first eight games in charge without going behind, Solskjaer had been asked how his players would react to the first sign of adversity.

Solskjaer believes his players answered that question with a comeback reminiscent of the Norwegian’s playing days at United in the 1990s.

“On the way up here I was stopped so many times by the staff, so many people saying: ‘Great spirit, fighting spirit, and the way they came back was fantastic,’” he said.

“So of course, happy with a point, but we could have got three even at the end, but we just ran out of time. We started too late with the urgency.

“That’s a learning curve, but now you’ve got your answer to: ‘Can they come back if they go one down or two down?’ Even so, I’m very happy with the response.”

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