Solskjaer reacts to Van de Beek’s performance against West Ham

 

Manchester United manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, has defended Donny van de Beek’s performance after they struggled past West Ham to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals.

Scott McTominay netted the winner in extra time after a drab affair at Old Trafford.

Van de Beek, who arrived in a £35 million deal from Ajax in the summer, started in midfield with Bruno Fernandes benched.

In the absence of their main creative outlets, United struggled to find a way through West Ham.

But Solskjaer was satisfield with how Van de Beek performed.

“I thought in the first half, we and Donny played really well,” Solskjaer told reporters.

“We created spaces and he was part of that. He did his job neat and tidy, had a half chance. In the second half, the whole team fell off a little bit and we just wanted to make a few changes.”

Van de Beek was replaced after 73 minutes by Fernandes.