Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reveals his half-time talk that inspired Manchester United to fight back from 2-0 down to beat Atalanta 3-2. ‘If we get the next goal, we win the game.’
Their Champions League campaign appeared to be in tatters at half-time, with Atalanta 2-0 up at Old Trafford through Mario Pasalic and Merih Demiral goals.
They were bottom of the group, as Villarreal won 4-1 away to Young Boys, but turned it all around through Marcus Rashford, Harry Maguire and Cristiano Ronaldo.
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“I thought we played well first half too. Two chances, two goals. It had to stop if we are to survive,” Solskjaer told BT Sport.
“We have a habit of doing this at this club. I thought we played well and they scored a goal out of nothing and then another set-piece. But they never stopped believing and kept going.”
Rashford wasted a couple of big chances, while David De Gea needed a huge double save on Duvan Zapata and Ruslan Malinovskyi.
“He had chances in the first half but Marcus kept on going. He got a knock but he is going to be very important for us. It was instinctive finish from Harry. I don’t think you would have expected him to score that one.
“And Cristiano is great in front of goal. If anyone wants to criticise him for effort and work-rate just watch this game. Watch how he runs around.”
Solskjaer reveals the half-time talk that inspired Manchester United to transform their performance.
“At half-time, I said make sure we get the next goal, because then we win the game. As long as we don’t concede I was pretty sure we would win the game. It was just about taking chances.”
It’s still a very balanced group, with Manchester United on six points, Atalanta and Villarreal on four and Young Boys three.