Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says there is still plenty of work to do on Manchester United’s defensive shape after their 2-1 victory over West Ham United in the Premier League on Sunday.
United came from behind to snatch the narrow win, although needed a stoppage time penalty save from De Gea to ensure they got all three points from east London.
Said Benrahma had given West Ham the lead after 30 minutes when his shot deflected off Raphael Varane, with defenders too slow to close down the Algerian winger.
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The Hammers looked the more effective team and deserving the lead, although it was cancelled out only five minutes after through Cristiano Ronaldo.
Solskjaer concedes there were too many holes in his team, defensively, even with Fred and McTominay creating a back six, at times, with the other four defenders in the side.
‘We have to work better defensively, no doubt,’ said Solskjaer after the victory in London. ‘In the first half, we were too easy to play through.
‘We will work on it because there is no respite when you play football. I’ve spoken about how you can’t take rests when you defend.
‘We dropped into a back six [for the goal] and there were too many spaces. We were too late to charge the ball. We’ve already sorted that and spoke about that at half-time.’
The Red Devils are currently third in the table after the win, level on points with Chelsea and Liverpool above them, so it has been a great start to the season.
And Solskjaer is pleased with the character his team is showing, with Jesse Lingard coming off the bench to score the winning goal on Sunday after Ronaldo had equalised in the first half.
‘It was better in the second half and a great response,’ said the Norwegian. ‘That was a big thing for me – how do you react when you go 1-0 down? ‘It was a very, very good five minutes for us.’
The two clubs will meet again on Wednesday, with West Ham travelling to Old Trafford for a Carabao Cup match.
