Solskjær Reveals Why Man United Lost West Ham

Manchester United manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjær has said that his side lack of quality meant they lost to West Ham United in the English Premier League (EPL) on Sunday.

The Hammers’ goals came courtesy of Andriy Yarmolenko’s fine first-half strike and Aaron Cresswell’s outstanding free-kick in the second period, which ensured the hosts took all three points at the London Stadium.

Speaking after the game, Solskjær bemoaned the loss, especially in the second half when he expected his side to have done better.

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“You got to up the level. Up the tempo. Create more runs forward. I thought we pushed them back (in the second half) but we didn’t just have that little edge, and the quality that we should have had.”

On his view about the overall performance of his inconsistent side, he said:

“Its as many Premier League games. Even game that will be decided on quality on one hand, and today, it was them. Two very good goals. Two great finishes. But of course we could have done better defending them. And we should have scored ourselves.”

It took 15 minutes for the first shot of note, which came courtesy of Nemanja Matic, whose effort from around 25 yards was well held by Lukasz Fabianski.

Soon after, David De Gea held Yarmolenko’s speculative effort, before Marcus Rashford’s dangerous run was snuffed out by the Hammers’ defence.

Andreas Pereira’s shot, which deflected well wide for a corner, proved to be one of the better chances of the opening period.

The Hammers then mounted a testing effort when Pablo Fornals found Mark Noble from a free-kick, forcing De Gea to scramble across his goal-line to make the save.

While United had started the game better, West Ham ended the first period on top and made their superiority count just a minute before half-time.

Yarmolenko picked the ball up on the right flank and fed it to Noble as the Ukrainian continued his run into the box.

The Irons skipper found Fornals, who quickly slipped the ball into Yarmolenko who took a touch to compose himself before curling a low shot past De Gea to ensure Manuel Pellegrini’s men went in one up at the break.

After just three minutes of the second half, Andreas picked the ball up on the right flank and, after darting past Cresswell, fired it across the area for the waiting Juan Mata.

Sadly, the Spaniard was just a few inches away from turning it home.

Moments later, Yarmolenko produced a testing effort which De Gea clutched to his body.

There was a much more open feel to things in the second half with both sides creating more shooting opportunities.

Scott McTominay came close with an effort from a narrow-angle and soon after the ball deflected off Sebastien Haller’s knee and went wide.

The Reds were forced into a substitution just after the hour-mark when Rashford went down with an injury and was replaced by Jesse Lingard.

West Ham continued to prove dangerous from wide areas and Felipe Anderson came close from a rare foray down the right flank. His driven strike forced De Gea into a smart save before it was hastily turned away by the United defence.

After 68 minutes Harry Maguire had a great chance to put United on level terms when the ball bounced into his path in the box from a corner, but Fabianski made a good save.

Next, it was the hosts who went close, this time via Cresswell’s free-kick which went just over, yet it proved to merely be a dress rehearsal for the left-back.

In the 84th minute, following Ashley Young’s foul on Noble, Cresswell lined up another set-piece, which this time nestled in the top corner of the goal to put the game out of United’s reach.