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MANCHESTER, England — Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says Manchester United still need “two or three” new signings to be considered title contenders despite doing the league double over Manchester City for the first time in 10 years.
United beat Pep Guardiola’s reigning champions 2-0 at Old Trafford on Sunday thanks to goals from Anthony Martial and Scott McTominay to follow up the 2-1 victory at the Etihad Stadium in December. Afterwards Solskjaer hailed a “complete” performance but insisted the squad needs more work if they are going to close the gap with the top teams next season.
“We feel we are improving all the time,” said Solskjaer. “We know we lack one two three players to be considered a title contender and some experience and we know that.
“We are just going to start talking about going up the table, getting more points.
“Chelsea and Leicester are too far ahead for my liking.”
Guardiola, meanwhile, was forced to defend goalkeeper Ederson after the Brazilian put in an uncharacteristic error-strewn display. The Brazilian let Martial’s opener slip under his body before almost allowing Joao Cancelo’s back pass slide under his boot and into the net. And in the final minutes, he compounded a miserable afternoon by rolling the ball to McTominay for the midfielder to make it 2-0 from 40 yards.
“He’s an extraordinary keeper,” said Guardiola. “That’s the only thing I can say. It’s part of the game so next time he’s going to do better. He’s an extraordinary player. The way we played needed the build-up, sometimes it happens.”
It is the first time City have lost in the league at Old Trafford since 2015 and leaves them 25 points behind champions in waiting Liverpool. Bernardo Silva branded the performance “unacceptable” in a TV interview after the final whistle but Guardiola had a different view.
“I don’t agree with Bernardo,” said the City boss. “Over 90 minutes we played really well. In the first half we need to be a little bit more aggressive in the final third.
“Gundo [Ilkay Gundogan] and Bernardo needed more aggression in their position but in the second half we did it a little bit better. In general we played well and congratulations United on the victory.”