Manchester United's Norwegian manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer gestures on the touchline during the English Premier League football match between Southampton and Manchester United at St Mary's Stadium in Southampton, southern England on November 29, 2020. (Photo by Adam Davy / POOL / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. /
A 9-0 result has only been recorded twice previously in Premier League history – one of those also by Manchester United. In March 1995, United beat Ipswich Town by the same score, with Andy Cole scoring five.
On Tuesday, seven players made goalscoring contributions, making it only the second occasion so many different individuals have netted for the same team in a single Premier League match.
On target were Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Edinson Cavani, providing the perfect response to Solskjaer’s pre-match comments maligning the loss of his forwards’ “mojo”.
“Yeah, of course they have,” Solskjaer said with a laugh to BT Sport when asked if they had recovered that “mojo”.
“You get lots of confidence from a performance like this and the result, scoring goals is always good for forwards and the team.”
He added: “We have been waiting for them to show their magic and tonight was a night they could go and enjoy.
“We haven’t had too many of those where you can sit down in the second half and enjoy the football, so they enjoyed it. There were some good performances.”
Alexandre Jankewitz’s red card for a shocking second-minute tackle on Scott McTominay – who was also among the scorers – left Saints with an uphill battle, and Jan Bednarek followed him down the tunnel in the second half in rather more controversial circumstances.
But the focus will be on United’s scoring prowess in the contest, as they put Saints to the sword. Rashford’s goal saw him move on to 83 for the club, overtaking Eric Cantona. Solskjaer took a moment to praise the England international as he has occasionally had to contend with critics urging him to concentrate on his football amid his charitable efforts during the coronavirus pandemic.
“That’s not bad,” Solskjaer said of Rashford surpassing Cantona. “Eric was a fantastic player to play with and Marcus has a great career ahead of him.”What he’s done this season, this year, it just shows he can still focus on his football as well.”
Story by Sammy Wejinya
@SPNAfrica News
www.spnafricanews.com
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