Solskjaer says big win at Newcastle marks start of Manchester United season

(Reuters) - Manchester United needed a longer pre-season to prepare for the Premier League campaign but Saturday’s 4-1 win over Newcastle United is a sign that they are firing on all cylinders again, manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said.

The Red Devils recovered from an early own-goal by Luke Shaw to secure a comfortable victory with late strikes from Bruno Fernandes, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Marcus Rashford after under-fire skipper Harry Maguire levelled the contest at 1-1.

Solskjaer was pleased with his team’s response to their 6-1 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur before the international break.

“After the last result, that made this game even bigger. Then we were 1-0 down in two minutes, that made it even more so,” Solskjaer told Sky Sports.

“But we showed great resilience, great character to come back, handled the setback really well and we were led by an inspirational captain.

“We don’t want to use it as an excuse, but we needed pre-season. We wanted to get to this international break with more points than we have, but now we know our season started today, because we’ve come up to the speed of the game.”

Manchester United’s second victory of the season left them in 14th place with six points from four games. Solskjaer’s side next take on Paris St Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday before a home clash with Chelsea in the Premier League.

“The boys have come together really well. They know we’ve got a tough and difficult month ahead of us and they’re looking forward to every single game,” Solskjaer said.