He’ll come good – Solskjaer backs Man Utd’s Martial to find form

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer backed Anthony Martial to find form after Manchester United were stunned by Sheffield United in the Premier League.

Martial has scored just twice in 16 league appearances this season and was unable to have an impact as his side suffered a shock 2-1 loss at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

Solskjaer is confident the forward will recapture his best form, but understood questions over the 25-year-old and his team as a whole.

“The whole team will probably get criticism and myself as well. I don’t think Anthony’s exempt from that,” the United manager told a news conference.

“I think we all should be criticised because we didn’t perform. I know Anto, he’s working really hard in training, working on his finishing, working on his movement. I’ve got no qualms about that.

Martial thought he had cancelled out Kean Bryan’s shock opener, but the effort was ruled out for a foul by Harry Maguire on Sheffield goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.

Maguire headed in an equaliser in the second half, but Oliver Burke found a winner for the visitors, condemning Solskjaer’s men to a fourth home defeat in 10 league games this season, their most in a single campaign since 2013-14 (seven).

After his side were left in the second in the table, Solskjaer was disappointed, but also felt decisions went against his team, including for Bryan’s opener.

“Of course, we’re disappointed, but any result in the Premier League this season shouldn’t surprise anyone, but then again, very disappointed that we couldn’t put a better performance on,” he said.

“It’s down to us to put the performance up and we just couldn’t find an opening behind or around or between a very compact and good Sheffield United defence.

“The big moments went against us. If you look at it, Billy Sharp’s been around the place and knows how to put a goalkeeper off. That’s a definite foul on him, so David [de Gea] can’t get up. For me, the referee makes a mistake by blowing the whistle on our goal for that corner. That’s disappointing but that happens.”

Solskjaer’s side will aim to bounce back when they visit Arsenal on Saturday.