Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has praised Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof for dealing with the threat of Jamie Vardy in Saturday’s 1-0 victory over the Foxes.
The Red Devils welcomed Leicester City to Old Trafford looking to get their Premier League season back on track after going three games without a win.
Solskjaer’s love for Vardy: Five things to know…
- Man United beat Leicester City 1-0 at Old Trafford on Saturday.
- United’s centre-backs had the unenviable task of trying to keep Vardy quiet.
- But they did their job well, earning praise from Solskjaer.
- Solskjaer also praised Vardy for his playing style, calling him his “type of centre forward”.
- Man United now turn their attention to the Europa League as they face Astana on Thursday.
Marcus Rashford scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot inside 10 minutes, after being fouled by Caglar Soyuncu, while United’s own defence impressed as they secured a second clean sheet of the season.
And Solskjaer has hailed his centre-back pairing of Maguire and Lindelof for keeping a tab on Leicester striker Vardy, who he described as his “type of centre forward”.
“I thought they did excellently today. They read the game well,” Solskjaer told reporters.
“I’ve got loads of admiration for Vardy, I think he’s my type of centre forward, runs in behind, harasses and you’ve got to be spot on with the decision-making, when to stay up, when to drop off, and both of them proved their worth today. There were a couple of races and Harry did well.”
Meanwhile, Leicester fans taunted their former player Maguire through a series of songs, but the world’s most expensive defender’s performance was unaffected, drawing more praise from Solskjaer.
“I don’t think [the abuse] bothers [Maguire] whatsoever. You’ve got to be that way and when you play, when you coach, when you manage, we don’t get carried away when we win a game that we maybe didn’t deserve to win, but we don’t get in the dumps when we don’t win.
“Because the performances have been miles better than this, and today we just have to accept three points and wake up tomorrow with a smile, have a day off, relax a bit and look forward to next week.”
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Solskjaer: Still plenty for Man Utd to work on
Despite the win, which saw Man United climb up to fourth place in the table, two points behind second-placed Manchester City, Solskjaer admitted he was still not happy with parts of his side’s game.
“Let’s not kid ourselves, we didn’t play a great game,” he said.
“The first 25 mins were fantastic, but we gradually lost control. Then towards the end we were in control.
“Today was probably the first time this season, apart from spells against Chelsea, where we’ve had to defend as a team for longer periods, so the clean sheet is pleasing. The first 20 minutes was just fantastic to watch if you’re a neutral.”