Solskjaer: Ronaldo should have had penalty in Young Boys defeat

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer felt Manchester United should have been awarded a penalty in their 2-1 Champions League loss to Young Boys, but blamed the defeat on a lack of concentration.

United appeared to be heading for a routine victory when Cristiano Ronaldo, who matched former Real Madrid team-mate Iker Casillas’ record with his 177th Champions League appearance, put them ahead in the 13th minute.

The goal made Young Boys the 36th different side Ronaldo has scored against in the Champions League, a record he now shares with Lionel Messi.

However, the game turned when Aaron Wan-Bissaka received a straight red card late in the first half for his foul on Christopher Martins Pereira.

United saw another decision go against them when Ronaldo went down under the challenge of Mohamed Camara, with referee Francois Letexier waving away his claims.

Young Boys made their personnel advantage count soon after through Nicolas Moumi Ngamaleu’s 66th-minute strike.

The Group F clash looked set for a draw, yet there was a final twist as a misjudged backpass from Jesse Lingard, who replaced Ronaldo in the 72nd minute, was pounced on by Jordan Siebatcheu to seal a famous win with the last kick of the game.

Asked about Ronaldo, Solskjaer said: “You can never be surprised by the man, he scored another goal, he should have had a penalty and sending off the other way. 

“He pounced on that mistake. He’s exceptional but we have to look after him and it felt like the right moment to take him off.”

13% – Manchester United have lost seven of their 11 UEFA Champions League matches under Ole Gunnar Solskjær. 13% of their total defeats in the competition have come under Solskjær (7/54), despite the Norwegian only being in charge for 4.8% of their matches (11/231). Fall. pic.twitter.com/5e49OVY63B

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 14, 2021

On the penalty appeal, he added: “He shoves him with his arm and he’s one-on-one with the keeper but [the referee] probably didn’t do it as he’d have had to send him off and that’s sometimes what you get with young refs.”

Solskjaer, though, accepted United were the architects of their own downfall as they suffered another damaging away Champions League defeat akin to losses to Istanbul Basaksehir and RB Leipzig last season.

“Lack of concentration, make mistakes and you get punished,” Solskjaer explained. “You get done. We did that last year, we conceded two sloppy counter-attacks against Basaksehir and lost that game in the last seconds today.

“Jesse wants to play it safe and misplaces the pass, concedes the goal, that happens in football. If Jesse gets that chance again he turns, swivels and boots the ball the other way. Discipline is a huge part of the game. Aaron’s normally a very, very astute tackler, one of the best in the world.

“We know we’ve given ourselves a more difficult task, we did last year when everyone thought we were through after two games.

“You need 10 or 12 points, win your home games, one away from home. We’ve lost the opportunity to get three points but we’ve got two home games next and got to focus on those two.”