Man Utd: Solskjaer thrilled to reach Europa League final
Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer sprinted onto the pitch to embrace Edinson Cavani following their 3-1 win over Aston Villa on Sunday. The Uruguay international started the match on the bench. But he came on to score, boosting his side’s chances of finishing second in the Premier League table in the process.
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Solskjaer also hinted in the aftermath of the result that Cavani would stay at Old Trafford, saying: “Hopefully we can use him more next season.”
The Norwegian did, however, admit he was worried about Harry Maguire after the England international was forced out of the contest through injury late on.
“Hopefully that [the final] will be okay with Harry,” he said.
“I don’t know. We need to check it. It might be a few weeks or a month - we don’t know.
“It was his calf or lower leg. I think the player landed on him and he twisted something.”
Man Utd boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer embraced Edinson Cavani after Aston Villa win (Image: GETTY)
Solskjaer also praised Maguire by saying: “Harry has been excellent and it’s almost unheard of, the minutes he’s played.
“His fitness is very good - he’s robust. But, today, it looked like the boy landed on him and he twisted his ankle.
"I don’t know how serious it is. He might be available on Tuesday, he might not.”
Meanwhile, United star Luke Shaw has revealed Solskjaer’s message at half time was key to the team turning the match around.
“Going 1-0 down in the first half we knew it was going to be a hard game and we have been in this situation so many times - second half we came back much better,” he said.
Man Utd are hopeful of keeping Edinson Cavani for another year (Image: GETTY)
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"That's a positive but we need to start the first half better than we normally do. Maybe we're not ready for the game but we have the quality and can't keep counting on second-half performances.
"He (Solskjaer) said exactly what I have just said, we have been in this situation a lot of times, we have the quality, are a fit team and we always believe.
“When we got the first goal I felt we were going to win.
"We are just focusing on ourselves, even more so we look at the City result and we are disappointed with the points we have let go this season. We have two games in four days, we need to be ready."
United are next in action against Leicester on Tuesday, with Liverpool lying in wait on Thursday.