The manager, however, warned the players against getting complacent ahead of next week’s second leg in Italy
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When Edin Dzeko netted Roma’s second of the night in the roller-coaster first half, hosts Manchester United were left trailing 1-2 to the visitors in the first leg of the Europa League semifinals. For a brief period, United’s last-4 curse under manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer seemed to continue. But an inspired second half showing saw the Red Devils win the match 6-2, thanks to the five goals scored in the final 45 minutes.
Bruno Fernandes and Edinson Cavani were a class apart as both scored two each and provided two assists each. They were instrumental in Manchester United’s rampant second half performance. Solskjaer was understandably delighted with his team’s incredible comeback in the second period.
“No, you don’t feel the job is done but it was a good job done,” Ole told BT Sport. “I think the character showed that they came back and didn’t lose their heads.”
Solskjaer praised the character shown by his players to respond to go going behind in the first half. “You could say we’ve got one foot [in the final], but you need two feet,” he added when speaking to MUTV.
“We’re still halfway. A fantastic result to build on but you’ve got to be focused. I’ve seen stranger things. Football comes back to bite you if you take it too easily. We’ve just got to focus on Liverpool first and then Roma.”
He also warned his players of what to expect when they travel to Italy next week for the second leg. “We did well, but we know they’ve got quality. They scored two goals with two chances [in the] first half, two moments that we gave them,” he added.
“They did the same to Ajax; they didn’t have loads of chances but they score. In Rome, a team will get four, five, six chances against you anyway. Very pleased with the response, the second half was very good.”
Solskjaer went on to explain as to what his players had to do in the second half to be more influential. “We know we’ve got creative players,” Ole said. “I know we’ve got players who create big moments and chances. It’s about getting them up there in positions.”
“Paul, I think is very good in that position [on the left-wing]. You’ve got the foundation behind him [with Fred and McTominay]. Marcus, Edi, Bruno, Paul… against any players they will create chances, so it’s about taking them. That’s the difference today; we took most of our chances.”
