ESPN FC’s Craig Burley breaks down the key factors that guided Manchester United to a statement victory over top-four rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
Check out the best of David De Gea’s 11-save performance for Manchester United in a crucial 1-0 win at Tottenham.
LONDON, England — Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said Manchester United’s victory over Tottenham does not mean he has got one over on Mauricio Pochettino in the race to be the next permanent manager at Old Trafford.
Solskjaer saw his odds on becoming Jose Mourinho’s long-term successor cut after the 1-0 win at Wembley on Sunday. He is now joint favourite with Pochettino but Solskjaer insists the result was more important than the effect on his job prospects.
“This game was never about me or him, never,” Solskjaer said.
“You [the media] made it out to be. For us, it’s three points and we had to beat them today if we have a chance to catch them.
“I’m just doing my job every single day here, until the contract runs out end of June, I’ll have a holiday in there so I’m not thinking about that whatsoever.”
Marcus Rashford‘s goal — his third in his last three Premier League games — was enough to seal United’s first league win at Tottenham since 2012 but Solskjaer was indebted to goalkeeper David De Gea, who made 11 saves to keep a second consecutive clean sheet.
Solskjaer won the treble in 1999 with Peter Schmeichel in goal and Solskjaer believes De Gea deserves to be spoken about as a United great alongside the Dane and Edwin van der Sar.
“There’s maybe one or two fantastic saves and the rest was about concentration and being in the right position,” Solskjaer said.
“We’ve had some great keepers at this club and I think he’s challenging Edwin and Peter for the No. 1 spot historically.”
Solskjaer is the first United manager to win his first six games in charge to eclipse a record set by Sir Matt Busby. The 45-year-old can make it seven in a row when Brighton visit Old Trafford on Saturday.
“Spurs are flying at the moment, they score goals, they’ve got some fantastic players and we defended really well, we had a fantastic goalkeeper obviously,” Solskjaer said.
“Second half we made hard work of it, maybe ourselves, as they created many, many chances but the first half was spot on.”
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