Man UTD will ‘put up the fight’ in the title race, and will not “give away” the crown of Premier League early, insists manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
United drew at low West Brom and is second just at the table, ahead of Leicester on goal difference, but seven points behind Manchester City’s runaway leaders.
Pep Guardiola, who won 15 games in a row in all competitions, still has a game in hand on both sides.
Man UTD will ‘put up the fight’ in the title race
Solskjaer said that his side needs to “put City under pressure, Man UTD will ‘put up the fight’ in the title race”
He told BBC Sport, “Let’s just build momentum and win games. They [City] are in a suitable form. We have to put up a fight with Leicester.”
Asked if his side are still in the title race, captain Harry Maguire said: “Of course we are. We have to go again and win the next one and then the next one.”
United moved two points away from their rivals on 20 January by beating Fulham, but suffered a shock home loss by the bottom side of Sheffield United in their next league game, enabling City to take the lead.
It was the start of a terrible run of only one win in their last five games, the latest downturn being a 1-1 draw against a hard-fought West Brom side who are second at the bottom of the standings.
Solskjaer told Sky Sports, “I said we shouldn’t be talking about [in the title race], a compliment to the boys we’ve gotten into the spot that we are now”.
“We won’t let them [Manchester City] run away with it – we’re playing them soon. We’re not giving it away early no we’re not.”
United fell behind after just 83 seconds at The Hawthorns courtesy of Mbaye Diagne’s header and salvaged a point through Bruno Fernandes’ stunning volley.
Solskjaer added: “I am disappointed. We want to get three points on the board and challenge teams above us. We gave ourselves a tough start after going 1-0 down after a minute.”
‘The VAR must have been asleep’
United thought they had a chance to win the game when referee Craig Pawson pointed to the penalty spot after they had bundled Maguire in the box by Semi Ajayi, while the United Defender appeared offside.
Following a meeting with VAR Jon Moss and an analysis of the incident on the pitchside monitor, Pawson concluded that there was not enough contact and revoked his original decision.
“We were so certain it was a penalty,” Maguire said. “Not sure why they needed to send him [the referee] to a monitor. The clip was minimal, but it was a penalty. It seems like the decisions are going against us.”
Solskjaer told BBC Radio 5 Live, “It’s a foul and an obvious penalty if he [referee] allows it to go on. I think Harry’s offside when Bruno Fernandes hits the ball. Someone must have been asleep.
“Too many times now… One week is a foul, one week is not a foul, one week is a penalty, and another week is not a penalty.”
Allardyce felt that it would have been a “absolute injustice” if the penalty had been awarded and United had scored the winner from the spot.
He said, “The confusing thing is that Harry Maguire is offside. It meant to be the decision is that this is offside, so let’s play on it. I’m really confused.”