BY AYODELE ODUMADE AT SELHURST PARK

The Manchester United Manager Ole Gunnar Solksjaer was pleased with the attitude of his side as they beat Crystal Palace and remain unbeaten in the league under the caretake manager. The manager said: “Great win. Great result. Three points. At Selhurst Park it is never a given. We know how hard we had to work for it last year being two goals down.  The key today was a good start and taking control of the game and I thought we did that. It was a fantastic response when they made it 2-1.”

Having put in a brilliant performance against Liverpool at the weekend, Luke Shaw followed it up with another good performance including supporting the attack. Solksjaer said: “We want him to go forward.  The next step for him is to trust himself more often going forward. Today it was down to the  shape we played with Romelu [Lukaku] and Alexis[Sanchez] inside and Diogo wide right and we had another winger on the other side.”

This was Manchester United’s 8^th successive league win away from home. “ You can explain it by having good players and preparing well for the game comfortably the team did well. The team were focused today and there was no complacency whatsoever. This is the game I have always dreaded but I knew this was going to be difficult after PSG and Chelsea especially with the mental energy that goes into those games. The focus was fantastic during the meetings we had and there was some great finishing by Romelu.”

You go into every game as Manchester United Coach with these players you have thinking you have a chance to win every game. The next one is away against PSG so let’s see if we can continue.”

Romelu Lukaku who had been struggling for form scored two goals and his manager said: “Romelu was through the middle today. We created chances for him and he put them away well. He has had different roles but today he got a chance down the middle because of Rashy’s injury and he took his chance today. He had very good finishing and he had a chance earlier on as well. He is a quality finisher. His attitude has been great. He has played wide right and left. It is Rash’s form that has pushed him wide..”

Ashley Young bore the brunt of the boo boys today but he had the last word as he scored the decisive goal as Palace went in search of an equaliser. His manager said: “ Ash is a top top professional and good captain  for us. I think it is only at centre back that he has not played for us so I might have to play him at centre back soon to fill every role!”

The United boss was also pleased with how his team dealt with the threat of Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend. “They take you inside one on one. How many penalties have those two won this year due to their trickery? Our defending was great. You have to stay on your feet but we gave them a goal though. We could have cleared the ball but after that the response was fantastic.

United often give youth a chance and this game was no different as Solksjaer blooded 17 year old James Garner with a few minutes to go. The manager was asked about  his future at the club and he said: “ I believe he has a chance to have a great future. He knows we believe in him and have great faith in him as the next Michael Carrick. He is in the same mould and he can see the game and play simple passes. You are at Man United. Michael came in after Roy Keane. That is just the way it is at Manchester United!”

The Manager of Crystal Palace simply said: “I thought the best team won. We worked hard in the first half but the fact is they had a lot of control. We gave it our best shot but they deserved the victory.”