Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hailed his side s ability to grind out results after the Red Devils survived a flurry of late Burnley chances to triumph 2-0 in the Premier League on Saturday.
Anthony Martial scored his third goal in two games one minute before half-time to put United ahead in a game they dominated for long periods, but hosts Burnley heaped pressure on David De Gea s goal in the final 15 minutes at Turf Moor.
A late United break produced a second goal when Daniel James played in Marcus Rashford for his 12th Premier League strike of the season and clinched a result that moved the Red Devils up to fifth in the table, just a point behind fourth-placed Chelsea.
Solskjaer admitted his players should have put the game to bed sooner but praised their performance following back-to-back victories, describing himself as very happy .
In the first half I thought we were very good, said Solskjaer. We controlled it, dominated it, scored a nice goal. Second half of course there s going to be a couple of instances in your box because they re desperate to get a goal and throwing men forward.
We could have finished the game off really, we had some great counter-attacking chances. We should have got the second goal earlier but there was some great defending.
It s important for us to know that we can grind out results as well, even though when you score one you don t always win. If we can get clean sheets we ve got a chance to move up the table.
We end the year, and the decade, with a hard-earned three points
— Manchester United (@ManUtd)
United travel to Emirates Stadium to play Arsenal on New Year s Day and Solskjaer called for his players to maintain the momentum that has helped them go nine matches with just one defeat in all competitions – a 2-0 reverse at Watford on December 22.
With Martial and Rashford hitting form, United will be widely backed to get a result against an Arsenal side adapting to life with a new head coach Mikel Arteta at the helm.
Solskjaer said his forwards must be less wasteful than they were against Burnley, adding: You re always kicking yourself when you don t take your chances. There were so many great counter-attacking opportunities, when we made wrong decisions or were a little bit too slow to get the finish off, but it was an excellent performance.
Let s see what we do against Arsenal. We want to keep that momentum going. Two wins after a disappointing game against Watford. Happy with that. Good response. The boys are learning.