The Reds got back to winning ways with a cagey 1-0 victory at the King Power Stadium as Marcus Rashford marked his 100th appearance for the club with the only goal of the match.
Solskjaer’s 10th game in charge brought a ninth win, with United not needing to get out of third gear. But that led to Leicester having large spells of the game where they were on top and a few late chances could have brought a different outcome.
However, David De Gea was in good form and Solskjaer was delighted with his goalkeeper’s performance.
“Leicester got in a few dangerous positions,” he said. “We could have done better higher up the pitch in terms of defending and in the second half I thought we were more concerned about the result than the performance and it showed.
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“David De Gea made a few great saves and blocks. We never strung passes together, we didn’t control the game as much as I’d like, but we’re away with three points which is fantastic, and we deserved the three points I thought.
“Football is a game of mistakes. Our lads, when we make mistakes, they were fighting for the ball and giving their all. David is very patient in his positioning and reads the game very well – he doesn’t gamble
United are now just two points shy of the Champions League places and despite the mistakes made by his team, Solskjaer was delighted with how they ground out the result.
“Our attitude was spot on,” he said. “There are couple of bruised noses and knees. It is supposed to be like this, there are three points on the line. Our lads sacrificed everything they had.
“They know they can do better than this but a clean sheet is always a foundation to build on. We didn’t play particularly well but we defended really well; Eric (Bailly) and Victor (Lindelof) fantastic and David (De Gea) again of course.”
David de Gea made a number of vital saves (Getty) (Getty Images)
Leicester boss Claude Puel was annoyed that his side conceded yet another early goal.
Rashford’s strike made it the fifth game in a row that the Foxes had found themselves behind in a match before 12 minutes were even on the clock.
“When you concede an early goal it is then difficult to change the game and get back,” said Puel. “I don’t understand, it is crazy because we make it difficult for ourselves.
“It is a shame because afterwards we played well as a team and with good intentions and caused United problems. It is crazy, but we will see what we can do. We need to take more responsibility.”
Asked to respond to a third straight home Premier League defeat, Puel said: “My only concern is this game and to analyse this game as there’s a lot of frustration.
“There was the possibility to make at minimum a draw but after our start it is too difficult to change the game.”
PA
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