Ole Gunnar Solskjær has reacted to Manchester United reaching the Europa League semi-finals tonight.
The United manager was speaking in Cologne after a tiresome 1-0 win over FC Copenhagen thanks to Bruno Fernandes’ penalty in extra time.
Talking to BT Sport post-match, Solskjær said: “I’m delighted that we’re through. I think we deserved to win tonight.
“Their ‘keeper was fantastic, actually, incredible.”
He continued: “It could’ve been one of those nights where it goes to penalties because they created opportunities.
“Maybe not shots on target – Sergio [Romero] didn’t have to make one save – but we had to block, defend well and they made it hard for us.”
The 30+ degrees German heat made the affair even more gruesome but Copenhagen’s steely performance made them a tough nut to crack.
On the opposition’s performance, the well-aware Solskjær explained: “It was a good team that we played against.
“They were well-organised; they had a press, they had a game plan, they had triggers when they jumped and pressed us.”
He went on to say: “I know Ståle [Solbakken] really well, I knew they were going to be hard to break down.
“It was about patience. Don’t make mistakes, don’t give them chances, let them earn chances.
“We knew we’d get chances. Anthony [Martial], Marcus [Rashford], Bruno, Mason [Greenwood] and Paul [Pogba] will always make chances in every game.”
Copenhagen's Karl-Johan Johnsson made 13 saves against #mufc, no goalkeeper has ever made more in a single Europa League game #mulive [espn] pic.twitter.com/iTkpMfqSaC
— utdreport (@utdreport) August 10, 2020
On the game going to extra time, Solskjær revealed his positive slant on the outcome.
“Maybe we needed it,” he stated.
“You felt, towards the end [of normal time] we could’ve got the goal but you don’t go gung-ho and open up and the could counter attack.
“You felt, with another half of an hour to play, we’d create more chances and score.”
United will now face one of two old foes in Sevilla or Wolverhampton Wanderers in the semi-final at the same stadium on Sunday.
On the upcoming tie, the boss said: “Two good teams. We know everything about Wolverhampton.
“I had a last 16 or eight round at Molde against Sevilla so I’ve got something to get back at them as well.”
Juan Mata also joined BT Sport reporter Reshmin Chowdhury after the full-time whistle, saying: “The team is quite tired physically.
“At this stage of this season it is important to win games like today and we go through. We stay in Germany for quite some time and hopefully we can win.
“They played some great football in their last game,” stated the extra time impact sub.
“We scored one goal, of course we are happier when we score more but now it is time to recover and wait and find out who we get in the next round.”
It will be the first time that the Red Devils have played in three semi-finals since 2009.
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