Man United's interim boss Solskjaer keen to take on permanent role after his side beat Newcastle 2-0 to register record fourth straight win
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer joined Matt Busby in the Manchester United record books in his team's 2-0 win at Newcastle on Wednesday and admitted he does not want to leave the club in the summer. The United interim manager, in charge until the end of the season when he is scheduled to return to his Norwegian club Molde, has now won his first four games in charge.
In United's history, only the legendary and iconic Busby has matched that achievement and Solskjaer celebrated enthusiastically with his club's travelling supporters after goals from Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford secured the win. "I don't want to [leave]," said Solskjaer when asked about his future beyond this season. "It is such a great bunch of players, a fantastic atmosphere. But it is the next game, the next game and I am doing my job for as long as I am here."
Tough test ahead
United will now move on to much tougher challenges, starting with the Premier League visit to Tottenham a week on Sunday. But, given the manner of Wednesday's victory, Solskjaer has the look of a manager at the top of his game after his decision to throw on Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez, two of the biggest under-achievers under former manager Jose Mourinho, after 63 minutes. Instantly, Newcastle keeper Martin Dubravka fumbled a 25-yard Rashford free-kick and Lukaku, with his first touch of the game, tapped the rebound home from five yards.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
The game hung in the balance until the 79th minute when Newcastle, pushing upfield for an equaliser, were caught on the counter-attack. Lukaku found Sanchez whose astute pass reached Rashford in space and the England forward showed great poise to curl the ball past Dubravka. "It was a tough test," said Solskjaer of Rashford's performance. "He gets kicked, and he gets tackled, he goes for headers, he wins, he challenges, he runs. He is going to be a top, top number nine, definitely but then we've got Romelu Lukaku, so sometimes he'll play on the right, sometimes on the left, sometimes through the middle. He'll get enough games.
"But I felt it was time to put Lukaku and Alexis on and, of course, it was a great shot by Marcus and Romelu does his job as a striker to be following in on the rebound. If you do that you'll get five or six goals every season for free, really."
Chelsea stutter
Meanwhile, Chelsea wasted a chance to cement their place in the EPL's top four as a superb display from Southampton goalkeeper Angus Gunn gave his struggling side a 0-0 draw on Wednesday
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