MX23RW : Thursday, April 25 03:37:13| >> :120:4938:4938:
[monks data]
Attendance: 31,314
Wolves logo
Premier League | Gameweek 2
Aug 19, 2019 at 8pm UK
 
Manchester United logo

1-1

Neves (55')
FT(HT: 0-1)
Martial (27')

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer defends Manchester Utd penalty policy after Paul Pogba miss

Solskjaer defends Man Utd penalty policy after Pogba miss
© Reuters
Manchester United were held to a 1-1 draw by Wolves at Molineux.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer does not believe Manchester United’s spot-kick situation needs addressing despite Paul Pogba’s penalty miss costing his side victory at Wolves.

Fresh from opening their Premier League campaign with an impressive triumph against Chelsea, United hit the road looking to avoid a third Molineux loss in five months.

Solskjaer’s side were vastly improved from those 2-1 losses in the FA Cup and Premier League earlier in the year, but it could have been even better than Monday’s hard-fought 1-1 draw.

Anthony Martial put Manchester United in front
Anthony Martial put Manchester United in front (Nick Potts/PA)

Ruben Neves’ stunner cancelled out a fine Anthony Martial opener and eyebrows were raised when Pogba stepped up to take the spot-kick he won, rather than last week’s penalty scorer Marcus Rashford.

Rui Patricio saved the France midfielder’s thumping effort – his fourth failed penalty since the start of last season – and United great Gary Neville questioned why there had been an on-pitch discussion about the taker.

“This is a Manchester United penalty, this is not a tombola,” the former defender said on Sky Sports of that conversation, but Solskjaer downplayed the issues after confirming both Pogba and Rashford are the designated penalty takers.

Asked whether he needed to address penalties, Solskjaer said: “Not at all.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer does not feel the issue of penalty takers needs addressing
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer does not feel the issue of penalty takers needs addressing (Nick Potts/PA)

“The two of them are confident and good penalty takers and I’ve been in that situation myself, gone up and missed a penalty for Norway.

“When there’s two names there, it’s the one who’s the most confident and Paul has scored so many before, so absolutely no problem.

“It doesn’t have to be (one taker), no.

“Because sometimes in a game you do grow in confidence. Sometimes ‘I don’t want to take it today because I had a bad day’.

“Absolutely no problem with players walking up and saying, ‘this is mine’.”

Pogba pulled his shirt over his head at the full-time whistle, knowing this was a great opportunity to win at upwardly mobile Wolves.

“First half today was very much ours I felt,” Solskjaer said of the United performance.

“Then the first 10-15 (minutes) of the second half was poor and then we got back into the game again, so I am very pleased.

Paul Pogba showed his disappointment at full-time
Paul Pogba showed his disappointment at full-time (Nick Potts/PA)

“They’ve learnt today. They gave a couple of sloppy transitions away, counter-attacks, because we passed it – we were too eager to play the pass through.

“Sometimes one extra pass before we play the killer pass… but we’re improving all the time and we will improve a lot because the boys want to learn, want to improve, which is evident from the first game to now. We’ve only improved.”

Wolves counterpart Nuno Espirito Santo was pleased to see his side emerge from this hard-fought encounter with a point, especially given they are juggling the opening Premier League fixtures with Europa League exertions.

Neves was among nine changes from the win against Pyunik last week and scored an exquisite leveller to send Molineux wild.

Ruben Neves beat David De Gea with a fine finish
Ruben Neves beat David De Gea with a fine finish (Nick Potts/PA)

But elation temporarily turned to frustration as referee Jon Moss pointed to his ear as the video assistant referee checked the goal, with chants of “f*** VAR” echoing around the ground before the equaliser was given the green light.

“It was a very, very good goal,” Nuno said. “Ruben kicked the ball well, put it out of the reach of the goalkeeper. Just there, spot on. Very good kick.”

Quizzed about the amount of time it took to award it, the Wolves boss said: “That’s what is worrying me.

“What I am afraid of is will we will be afraid to celebrate a goal? This is energy at Molineux, the sound, this atmosphere – we cannot lose, we cannot lose.

“They have to find a solution for it. Please do it.”

ID:368638: cacheID:368638:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:11736:No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
10am
Blanch
Nadal
10am
Cachin
Ofner
10am
Elahi Galan
Bautista-Agut
10am
Gasquet
Sonego
10am
Hanfmann
Mensik
10am
Koepfer
Carballes Baena
10am
Kovacevic
Medjedovic
10am
Lajovic
Monteiro
10am
Machac
Ruusuvuori
10am
Michelsen
Fonseca
10am
Nishioka
Auger-Aliassime
10am
O'Connell
Arnaldi
10am
Purcell
Giron
10am
Ramos-Vinolas
Kotov
10am
Tabilo
Cobolli
10am
Zhizhen
Kecmanovic
10am
Azarenka
Maria
10am
Eala
Cirstea
10am
Annie Fernandez
Potapova
10am
Gauff
Rus
10am
Keys
Camelia-Begu
10am
Podoroska
Navarro
10am
Karolina Schmiedlova
Jabeur
10am
Swiatek
Wang
10am
Baez
Van Assche
10am
Coric
Zverev
10am
Martin Etcheverry
Shapovalov
10am
Humbert
Van De Zandschulp
10am
Hurkacz
Draper
10am
Marozsan
Cerundolo
10am
Paul
Klein
10am
Rublev
Bagnis
10am
Altmaier
Fils
10am
Darderi
Fritz
10am
Griekspoor
Daniel
10am
Munar
Struff
10am
Musetti
Seyboth Wild
10am
Navone
Rune
10am
Shevchenko
Alcaraz
10am
Alexandrova
Krueger
10am
Andreeva
Noskova
10am
Bejlek
Kalinskaya
10am
Boulter
Montgomery
10am
Bronzetti
Rybakina
10am
Collins
Danilovic
3pm
Cristian
Krejcikova
10am
Dolehide
Kalinina
10am
Garcia
Wang
10am
Linette
Sabalenka
10am
Pavlyuchenkova
Saville
10am
Sorribes Tormo
Svitolina
10am
Vekic
Sakkari
11.30am
Arango
Yastremska
11.30am
Osaka
Samsonova
11.30am
Ostapenko
Bouzas Maneiro
1pm
Haddad Maia
Errani
2.30pm
Lourdes Carle
Kudermetova
2.30pm
Mertens
Stephens
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Arsenal34245582265677
2Liverpool34228475344174
3Manchester CityMan City32227376324473
4Aston Villa34206871502166
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs32186865491660
6Manchester UnitedMan Utd33165125150153
7Newcastle UnitedNewcastle331551369541550
8West Ham UnitedWest Ham34139125463-948
9Chelsea32138116157447
10Bournemouth34129134960-1145
11Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton321111105250244
12Wolverhampton WanderersWolves34127154654-843
13Fulham34126165054-442
14Crystal Palace34109154456-1239
15Brentford3498175259-735
16Everton34118153648-1233
17Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest3479184260-1826
18Luton TownLuton3467214775-2825
19Burnley3458213769-3223
20Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd3437243392-5916


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!