McTominay knee injury overshadows comprehensive Man Utd win

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes Scott McTominay suffered a knee ligament injury in the 4-1 win over Newcastle United, with the Manchester United boss admitting: “We don’t know how bad it is”.

Midfielder McTominay was hurt in the early stages of the Boxing Day fixture at Old Trafford, though stayed on for the remainder of the first half.

The Scotland international was replaced by Paul Pogba at the interval and was seen leaving the ground on crutches, a worrying sight for the Red Devils amid a busy festive period of fixtures.

Solskjaer has not yet ruled McTominay – who was a shown yellow card after 24 seconds for a foul on Sean Longstaff – out of contention for Saturday’s trip to Burnley, while he also praised the player for playing on through the pain.

“He’s done his ligament in his knee, probably. We don’t know how bad it is, so let’s see,” Solskjaer told the media.

“The boy has got the biggest heart of the lot. He played until half-time but we know when they stiffen up after. We’ll have to find out tomorrow, how he is. 

“You see the attitude of the kid, of everyone, in the beginning of the game. I’m not sure if he’ll be ready for Saturday [against Burnley]. Probably not, but we’ve seen him recover before.”

3 – Mason Greenwood scored as many goals in his first 426 minutes of @premierleague play for @ManUtd as Alexis Sanchez managed in 1923 minutes on the field for the Red Devils in the competition (3). Standards. #MUNNEW pic.twitter.com/aHPj8bUEnH

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 26, 2019

Matty Longstaff gave Newcastle the lead but Manchester United – beaten 2-0 by Watford in the previous outing – hit back impressively, capitalising on some generous defending to secure all three points.

Anthony Martial scored twice, while Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford were also on target, with a commanding lead early in the second half allowing Solskjaer to plan ahead for the games to come with his substitutions.

“I thought we did well today. Obviously, at 1-0 down, you’re not sure,” the Norwegian said.

“Then again, all season we’ve had one defeat and we haven’t lost the next one. So, the response was really good. Today was a good day for us.

“We made it comfortable and, in the second half, I think both teams were looking at the game in two days’ time. There is nothing wrong with the character in these boys. They have what it takes and are not going to give up.”