In their Champions League Group F clash, Manchester United came from two goals down to beat Atalanta 3-2 on Wednesday night.
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Following the weekend disappointment in the Premier League, Manchester United were determined to make a statement against Atalanta on Wednesday night. They started on the front foot playing an attacking style of football in their Champions League Group F match against the Italians. However, the Red Devils found themselves 0-2 down in the first half. Undeterred by the disappointment, United impressively overcame the deficit to beat Atalanta 3-2 on Wednesday night at Old Trafford. Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reckons that belief was the key to United’s stirring second-half comeback. The Reds have taken control of Group F by moving to the top with all three points.
Cristiano Ronaldo completed the comeback after Marcus Rashford and Harry Maguire had earlier scored in the half. It was a perfect response to a disappointing 2-4 loss against Leicester City at the weekend. After the game, Solskjaer, while speaking to MUTV and BT Sport, explained the key reason behind the incredible comeback win. “Tonight was an attacking game from start to finish. I thought it was two teams who were offensive-minded and wanted to go attacking,” he began.
“Maybe we wanted to finish the attacks too quickly and maybe gave the ball away too easily trying a risky pass. But that’s in our DNA. We’ve got players running and players with the quality of playing the last pass. Then we’re 2-0 down from two chances. It is difficult and I almost didn’t understand how that happened. Bang, bang, we’re 2-0 down but we kept believing and that’s key.”
Revealing his half-time message, Ole said, “Make sure we get the next goal because we’ll win the game. As long as we didn’t concede a goal, I was pretty sure we’d win the game. Because we did create chances in the first half as well, it was just about taking them. I was quite happy with the performance. I felt we were growing more and more into the game and it happened. All credit to the players, they did really well.”
“We had chances in the first half, from Marcus’s runs, and he kept on going and, in the end, he got a knock. But he’s going to be very, very important for us.”
Solskjaer also expressed his surprise with Harry Maguire’s instinctive tidy finish to level the scoreline in the second half. “Yeah I wouldn’t believe that [finish], when I saw him in training this morning, I have to say, because he missed a big chance then! I don’t think he would have believed he’d score that one tonight. It was an instinctive finish,” he added.
Praising Ronaldo’s work-rate and late goal, Ole said, “He’s great in front of goal. If anyone wants to criticise him for work-rate or attitude, just watch this game. Watch how he runs around. The header is not on a par with his Roma one but he’s still got a leap and timing like no-one else.”
Solskjaer also feels that in the context of the group this is a “massive result.” “I’ve said if you win your home games and get results away from home, you’ve got a good chance of going through. Tonight was a massive result. We got off to a slow start with the Young Boys game and, if we’re being honest, the red card has changed the game so that was disappointing,” he added.
“We didn’t play well against Villarreal, but we got the three points and dug in and I think tonight was a special night in terms of the togetherness, the spirit, the fight that we showed in the second half to keep believing and to keep pushing. Like I said, the fans gave us that. The energy that we felt from the fans in the second half was incredible.”
