JAKARTA - Manchester United coach, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said poor discipline was the cause of his team's 1-2 defeat to Young Boys in the opening match of Group F of the Champions League on Tuesday night.
However, Solskjaer is adamant that there is still plenty of time for United to turn things around.
United had taken the lead thanks to a Cristiano Ronaldo goal, but Young Boys turned things around in dramatic fashion in the second half.
A tough one to take tonight, but there's a long way to go in the #UCL.Thanks to our traveling fans for your magnificent support – as always #MUFC pic.twitter.com/zPluteqdC9
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) September 14, 2021
Aaron Wan-Bissaka's red card in the 35th minute proved to be a turning point for Young Boys. The Swiss club managed to score twice thanks to Moumi Ngamaleu (65) and Jordan Siebatcheu (90+5).
After the match, Solskjaer emphasized that his players were more disciplined if they did not want to repeat the same mistakes.
"Of course, discipline is a big part of tournament football," Solskjaer said at a news conference.
"If it was a knockout game and we were knocked out of the competition because we were playing with 10 men, everyone would have kicked ourselves."
"We were lucky it was the first game of the group and had plenty of time to bounce back."
"A missed opportunity, of course, but we have five games to get the 10 or 12 points we need to go through."#MUFC | #UCL
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) September 14, 2021
"We know we have given ourselves a more difficult task. We have missed the chance to get the three points, but we have two home games to go and have to focus on both."
Young Boys' winning goal came in the 95th minute after an error from substitute Jesse Lingard.
Even so, Solskjaer did not want to blame Lingard for the defeat.
"With Jesse, no footballer likes to make mistakes, but it's definitely an integral part of the game," added Solskjaer.
"We are human, every footballer makes mistakes, we will learn from him, he will learn from him. He will come back and be ready for the next game (against West Ham)."
On the other hand, Young Boys coach David Wagner was pleased with the victory his team won.
"We showed what we can do, we deserve it," said Wagner. "It's been a great night for this club. You can see what it means for the fans, after they have been away for so long."
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