Ole Gunnar Solskjaer defends Aaron Wan-Bissaka after Manchester United’s win at Brighton

Aaron Wan-Bissaka endured a difficult afternoon as Manchester United scraped past Brighton (Picture: Getty)

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has jumped to Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s defence and the right-back endured a tough afternoon in Manchester United’s 3-2 win over Brighton and says his willingness to improve bodes well for the future.

The Seagulls looked to have rescued a point as Solly March evaded the marking of Wan-Bissaka and Bruno Fernandes at the back post and squeezed the ball past David de Gea in the fifth minute of stoppage time at Amex Stadium.

But Neal Maupay’s handball in the area just moments later gave Fernandes an opportunity to seal all three points right at the death and the Portuguese made no mistake from 12 yards to get his side out of trouble once again.

March was a real threat for Brighton down the left flank (Picture: Getty)

It was an eventful match for Brighton forward Maupay, who opened the scoring in style with a Panenka from the penalty spot, before Lewis Dunk’s own goal and Marcus Rashford’s superb solo effort put the visitors back in control.

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Brighton goalscorer March caused Wan-Bissaka problems throughout down the left flank and BT Sport pundit Joe Cole was one of many to criticise the defender’s performance on the south coast.

‘Solly March found himself in this position on numerous occasions,’ former Chelsea and England star Cole said shortly after the final whistle. ‘I’m here and I was screaming at Wan-Bissaka: “Look over your shoulder, look over your shoulder!” He had a warning.

‘He’s not done anything, Solly March, it’s a lovely ball into the position, he’s ghosted in and he’s finished it. He could have got three or four from there.

‘One of the things we picked up 20 minutes before that happened was Wan Bissaka’s body shape in that situation… he got caught three or four times.

‘You don’t get the chance at this level to be given a warning that many times.

‘They deserved at least a point out of this game, Brighton, and you do feel for them.’

Solskjaer’s men notched up their first win of the season at Brighton (Picture: Getty)

However, Solskjaer felt the criticism aimed at Wan-Bissaka was unfair and called on the full-back’s United team-mates to offer greater support when targeted by opposition teams.

‘We’ve got our team shape and we don’t stop enough crosses down that left-hand side and we allow too many crosses in,’ Solskjaer said at his post-match press conference.

‘It’s also down to the team shape here and the sharpness. For me, we need to work harder from the front to stop crosses or from the sides and, yes, Aaron is improving as a defender, he is one of the best one-vs-one, he is practising defending back stick and he is a joy to work with.

‘He wants to learn so he’ll improve. Of course the chance towards the end he’ll need help from other players at the back stick.’

Fernandes sealed all three points for the visitors at the death (Picture: Getty)

Asked whether opposition teams are likely to double up on Wan-Bissaka, United’s head coach responded: ‘Yeah, they might just play on the other side as well and get crosses in.

‘Every player in this league has got strengths and weaknesses and we all know Aaron’s strengths.

‘But one of his strengths is he wants to learn and wants to improve.’

More: Manchester United FC

Despite the unconvincing nature of their performance, the Red Devils will be delighted to secure their first win of the league season after a shock defeat to Crystal Palace.

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Solskjaer’s men face Brighton again in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night before taking on Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham at Old Trafford next weekend.

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