Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insists his angry tirade towards Jesse Lingard during Manchester United’s Carabao Cup clash against Manchester City on Wednesday evening was ‘in the heat of the moment’.
The incident occurred during the second half of their match at the Etihad Stadium as United were chasing a second goal after Nemanja Matic had scored in the first half.
But Lingard’s wayward pass for Fred in the 58th minute was intercepted and City quickly countered to create a one-on-one chance for Raheem Sterling.
Sterling was unable to equalise for City but Lingard’s error sparked a strong reaction from Solskjaer on the touchline.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to Jesse Lingard after he gave the ball away for the 11th time.
“Jesse! One more time and your fucking off!!!”
Better from you Ole. Much better.#MUFC #MCIMUN #CarabaoCup pic.twitter.com/XZJCPdylmR— Matt ⚽?⚪⚫? (@MLMattnicks) January 29, 2020
Television cameras which were directed towards the dugout caught Solskjaer shouting: ‘Jesse. One more time and you’re f****** off.’
Lingard was substituted shortly after in the 65th minute.
When asked about the incident after the match, Solskjaer replied: ‘Ah, it was just heat of the moment.
‘Once in a while when you lose the ball just make sure we try to play more.
‘In the next moment him and Victor [Lindelof] grew in confidence.
‘Once in a while you’re going to make mistakes.
‘But if you’re going to come here and just defend you’ve got no chance.
‘Yes, we created one or two dangerous moments with the way we tried to play our way out.
‘But that’s the way we want the boys to express themselves that we have to do that to release the pressure.’
United were unable to score their second goal and were reduced to 10 men with 14 minutes remaining following Matic’s red card.
City won the tie 3-2 on aggregate and Pep Guardiola’s side will play Aston Villa in the final on March 1.
