“The performance wasn’t good enough” – Pressure increases on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as Manchester United lose in Istanbul
Last Updated: November 5, 2020 2:39 pm
Bad to worse
Manchester United failed to bounce back from defeat to Arsenal at Old Trafford. The northwest club lost 2-1 to Istanbul Basaksehir on Wednesday, following multiple defensive howlers.
United were frustrated by the Gunners at the weekend, failing to break down Mikel Arteta’s resolute back line. However, it was the Red Devils’ own defence in question versus Basaksehir.
First, Demba Ba was found advantageously alone after a United attack broke down, with Harry Maguire and Axel Tuanzebe nowhere to be seen. The former Newcastle and Chelsea striker ran clean through, and slotted past Dean Henderson.
United’s backline, specifically Luke Shaw, was then found wandering as a ball across the visitors’ box found Visca completely isolated, resulting in the Turkish side’s second.
Anthony Martial’s header before half-time brought hope, but ultimately was not built upon, as Ole Gunner Solskjaer’s side suffered their first Champions League defeat of the season. The loss leaves United still top of their group, but level on points with RB Leipzig.
With three games to go, if PSG can recover, and have Kylian Mbappe and Neymar back after the international break, the group could go to the wire.
Not good enough
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was clearly irritated by his side’s performance, and may well be feeling the pressure. Murmurs that this weekend’s meeting with Everton could prove decisive for the Norwegian’s immediate future have already begun to circulate. Wednesday’s result in Turkey will therefore only add to the pressure.
“Not good enough, the full game,” Solskjaer remarked. “We started off in the first 10 minutes… we had some space and looked like we could find some decent openings but then we left ourselves wide open for two goals and that was disappointing.”
“Good response and good goal after their second [goal] and in the second-half you think we can push on and create chances but we just couldn’t break them down.”
Attempting to explain the reasoning for the hosts’ comedic opener, Solskjaer cited a ‘lack of communication.’
“You play a short corner and everyone forgets the players we’re playing against. Demba Ba gets in behind us, lack of communication and lack of decisions.”
“You don’t usually see those goals at this level, you shouldn’t concede easy goals like this, you know how hard it is to create chances and create goals. And when you give easy and soft goals [away] like the ones here today it makes it a lot harder.”
“The performance wasn’t good enough. The first goal was unforgivable.”
“It has set us back a lot.”
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admitted there were few positives to take from a disappointing night in Instanbul.
🎙 @andymay pic.twitter.com/dXMDBc07Jy
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) November 4, 2020
United face Everton at 12:30pm this Saturday.
See also: Jeremie Frimpong: Profile, Expert Analysis, Tactical Overview & Video
This article was edited by Conor Laird.
Football Live streaming: Featured matches on January 27, 2020
| Game | Time | Predicted Score | Live Score Prediction/Live Score | How to Watch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Burnley FC vs Aston Villa FC | 74' | 1-2 | 1-2 | |
| Chelsea FC vs Wolverhampton Wanderers FC | 69' | 2-1 | 0-0 | |
| Brighton & Hove Albion FC vs Fulham FC | 01' | 1-0 | 0-0 | |
| Everton FC vs Leicester City FC | 27 January, 20:15 (In 42 minutes) | 1-0 | 1-0 | |
| Manchester United FC vs Sheffield United FC | 27 January, 20:15 (In 42 minutes) | 2-0 | 2-0 | |
 Celtic Glasgow vs Hamilton Academical FC | 27 January, 19:45 (In 12 minutes) | 4-0 | 4-0 | |
| Hibernian FC vs Glasgow Rangers | 27 January, 19:45 (In 12 minutes) | 0-3 | 0-3 |
Manchester United betting odds, next game:
Manchester United's latest videos
Manchester United latest news
| # | Team | MP | D | P |
| 1 | Manchester City FC | 19 | 23 | 41 |
| 2 | Manchester United FC | 19 | 11 | 40 |
| 3 | Leicester City FC | 19 | 14 | 38 |
| 4 | West Ham United FC | 20 | 6 | 35 |
| 5 | Liverpool FC | 19 | 15 | 34 |
| 6 | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 18 | 16 | 33 |
| 7 | Everton FC | 17 | 7 | 32 |
| 8 | Arsenal FC | 20 | 6 | 30 |
| 9 | Aston Villa FC | 17 | 13 | 29 |
| 10 | Chelsea FC | 19 | 10 | 29 |
| 11 | Southampton FC | 19 | 3 | 29 |
| 12 | Leeds United | 19 | -3 | 26 |
| 13 | Crystal Palace FC | 20 | -12 | 23 |
| 14 | Wolverhampton Wanderers FC | 19 | -8 | 22 |
| 15 | Burnley FC | 18 | -12 | 19 |
| 16 | Newcastle United FC | 20 | -15 | 19 |
| 17 | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 19 | -7 | 17 |
| 18 | Fulham FC | 18 | -12 | 12 |
| 19 | West Bromwich Albion | 20 | -33 | 11 |
| 20 | Sheffield United FC | 19 | -22 | 5 |
| Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| Salah, Mohamed | Liverpool FC | 13 |
| Kane, Harry | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 12 |
| Son, Heung Min | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 12 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United FC | 11 |
| Vardy, Jamie | Leicester City FC | 11 |
| Calvert-Lewin, Dominic | Everton FC | 11 |
| Bamford, Patrick | Leeds United | 10 |
| Zaha, Wilfried | Crystal Palace FC | 9 |
| Wilson, Callum | Newcastle United FC | 8 |
| Lacazette, Alexandre | Arsenal FC | 8 |
| Rashford, Marcus | Manchester United FC | 7 |
| Ings, Danny | Southampton FC | 7 |
| Watkins, Ollie | Aston Villa FC | 7 |
| Maupay, Neal | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 7 |
| Gundogan, Ilkay | Manchester City FC | 7 |
| Soucek, Tomas | West Ham United FC | 7 |
| Sterling, Raheem | Manchester City FC | 6 |
| Mane, Sadio | Liverpool FC | 6 |
| Maddison, James | Leicester City FC | 6 |
| Barnes, Harvey | Leicester City FC | 6 |
| Player | Team | Red Cards | Yellow Cards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bellerin, Hector | Arsenal FC | 0 | 7 |
| Gallagher, Conor | West Bromwich Albion | 0 | 6 |
| Bissouma, Yves | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 1 | 5 |
| Egan, John | Sheffield United FC | 1 | 5 |
| Hayden, Isaac | Newcastle United FC | 0 | 6 |
| McGinn, John | Aston Villa FC | 0 | 5 |
| Reid, Bobby | Fulham FC | 0 | 5 |
| Doucoure, Abdoulaye | Everton FC | 0 | 5 |
| Romeu, Oriol | Southampton FC | 0 | 5 |
| Dunk, Lewis | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 1 | 4 |
| Phillips, Kalvin | Leeds United | 0 | 5 |
| Cash, Matty | Aston Villa FC | 0 | 5 |
| Evans, Jonny | Leicester City FC | 0 | 5 |
| Lundstram, John | Sheffield United FC | 1 | 4 |
| Kante, N`Golo | Chelsea FC | 0 | 5 |
| Milivojevic, Luka | Crystal Palace FC | 1 | 4 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United FC | 0 | 4 |
| Grealish, Jack | Aston Villa FC | 0 | 4 |
| Ward-Prowse, James | Southampton FC | 0 | 4 |
| Tielemans, Youri | Leicester City FC | 0 | 4 |
| Player | Team | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| Kane, Harry | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 11 |
| De Bruyne, Kevin | Manchester City FC | 9 |
| Grealish, Jack | Aston Villa FC | 8 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United FC | 7 |
| Son, Heung Min | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 6 |
| Rashford, Marcus | Manchester United FC | 5 |
| Ward-Prowse, James | Southampton FC | 5 |
| Robertson, Andrew | Liverpool FC | 5 |
| Cresswell, Aaron | West Ham United FC | 5 |
| Digne, Lucas | Everton FC | 5 |
| Vardy, Jamie | Leicester City FC | 4 |
| Sterling, Raheem | Manchester City FC | 4 |
| Werner, Timo | Chelsea FC | 4 |
| Adams, Che | Southampton FC | 4 |
| Harrison, Jack | Leeds United | 4 |
| Chilwell, Benjamin | Chelsea FC | 4 |
| McGinn, John | Aston Villa FC | 4 |
| Salah, Mohamed | Liverpool FC | 3 |
| Wilson, Callum | Newcastle United FC | 3 |
| Ings, Danny | Southampton FC | 3 |
