Solskjaer excited for his first final as Man Utd boss

Solskjaer excited for his first final as Man Utd boss

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is excited to reach his first final as coach despite losing to Roma at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

The Red devils were defeated 3-2 in the second leg, thanks to goals from Edin Dzeko, Bryan Cristante and Nicola Zalewski who cancelled out Edinson Cavani’s brace.

Speaking after the game, Ole expressed his excitement for reaching the finals, although labelled the game as a strange loss.

“It feels good of course. We played one very, very good half at Old Trafford which has brought us through and today we did the job. I’m disappointed that we lost the game, I never like to lose a game, especially the way we did it, but it was always going to be one of these games that was going to be open. There were chances for both teams, it easily could have been 6-6 or 8-6 for them, so it was a strange game of football.

“It’s great to be in a final. We’ll forget the second half here when we’re in Gdansk definitely. We made it too open, it was always going to be an open game of course because they had to score, that was going to create chances for us, but we’re through.”

De Gea and Cavani performance

The manager also applauded the man of the match David De Gea, and goalscorer Edison Cavani for their heroics on the night.

“We kept giving them the ball, we kept losing it in difficult positions but luckily we’ve got one of the best goalkeepers in the world and luckily we have a number nine up front there who wants to score goals. Edi and David, it was two top performances by them.”

Villarreal challenge

Solkjair acknowledged Villarreal as a good team having ousted Arsenal from the Europa league, and said they will have to study the team ahead of the finals.

“[They’ve] beaten an Arsenal side which is never easy and any team that gets to a final is a good team. It’s going to be a difficult game but we’re looking forward to it, this is what we’ve always wanted – to play a final, last game of the season, chance to win a trophy. We’ve lost four semi-finals and finally we’re through.

“We’ve just got to start analysing Villarreal, of course we’ve watched them a little bit now. We know a little bit about them, but we’re ready for a final. It’s a one-off. The second leg in the semis is always a difficult game, but a final is a final. Anything can happen but we’ll prepare well.”

Reaching the finals

The Red devil’s manager added that the team effort helped united progress to the finals.

“It’s a team effort, it’s the whole team. We’ve had our ups and downs and we’ve played some very, very good football. The second half today was disappointing, very poor, but we’re in the final and we’ve got a good end to the season now. We’re looking forward to 26 May.”

Man United played Villarreal in a familiar final in 1999 on 26 May.

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