Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admits Manchester United’s convincing 2-0 win over Granada has been tainted by the fact three key players will miss the second leg through suspension.
Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes helped United secure a hard-fought victory at Estadio Nuevo Los Carmenes in the Europa League quarter-final first leg to put their side in the driving seat.
The only worry for United heading into the second leg at Old Trafford on April 15 will be the absence of Scott McTominay, Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw who are all suspended after they picked up yellow cards.
Solskjaer was pleased with the performance, but is slightly irritated by the suspensions to the trio.
“It was not a perfect night,” the Norwegian told BT Sport.
“We got three yellow cards and three suspensions. 2-0 is very good result. We know how difficult it is to come to Spain. We’ve got to play well to get a result.
“They [Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes] have been exceptional, so important for us.
“It was a very good run by Rashford, takes the ball fantastically. Bruno is so confident on penalties even though the keeper almost saved it.
“Same as always [attitude for next week]. We want to win every game. It’s still a young team, a learning team. We have to improve all the time.
“Football catches you so quickly if you rest. We can’t have any other approach.”
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JAMES: A MASSIVE WIN
“It’s a massive win for us,” United winger Dan James told BT Sport.
“We knew it’d be tough coming here. Getting a clean sheet was important. There’s still a second leg we’ve got to concentrate on but we have to recover and get ready for Sunday [at Tottenham].
“We knew it would be a tough game physically and we had to match that. We fought to the end and got that penalty.
“Keep smiling, keep playing. I’m really happy. We have to go into next week with the same attitude. Sunday is a massive game for us. We’ve got to get back, recover, get ready for that.”
