Solskjaer falls short of Mourinho as he reaches Man Utd milestone

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The current Red Devils boss has enjoyed a relatively successful time in charge at Old Trafford

Manchester United's 3-0 win over Luton Town in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday saw Ole Gunnar Solskjaer record his 50th win in all competitions as Red Devils manager.

The milestone victory comes after just 92 games in charge with only Ernest Mangnall (78 games) and Jose Mourinho (81 games) bringing up 50 wins quicker at Old Trafford.

Solskjaer replaced Mourinho at United in December 2018 and became the first manager to win his first five league games in charge of the club since Sir Matt Busby in 1946.

After a continued strong start to his reign, the Norwegian was handed a three-year contract in March 2019 but has since enjoyed mixed patches of form.

Though the Red Devils did finish third in the Premier League last season, they failed to claim any silverware and started the latest league campaign with a 3-1 loss against Crystal Palace.

On Tuesday, United did avoid slipping to another surprise defeat against Luton but looked far from convincing with goalkeeper Dean Henderson called into a vital save when Solskjaer's side only lead 1-0.

The Red Devils would strike twice in the final five minutes to secure a 50th win in charge for Solskjaer, but as Luton manager Nathan Jones pointed out, the 3-0 scoreline was deceiving.

"It flatters them massively. For 85-86 minutes I thought we were outstanding and then they bring Rashford and Greenwood on. They push on when we are trying to get the goal back," he told Sky Sports post-match.

"It took a penalty and a bit of a nick to put them in the lead. Throughout the game, structurally how we worked and the quality we showed, I am so proud of the team."

Solskjaer himself conceded his 50th victory as Manchester United manager was far from straightforward and seemed to welcome the challenge posed by their Championship opponents.

"Safe and through? It wasn't safe, they made us work hard for it," Solskjaer told MUTV.

"But that's what we need, we need to get competitive games and minutes into the legs of our players because normally we're in a pre-season after such [a] short training [period] and pre-season games are different.

"So I was happy with the competitive nature of this game and of course happy to go through because we'll get another chance next midweek to get more match minutes into players."

2020-09-23 10:00:05

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