It was a bitter pill for Manchester United to chew being their first Premier League loss since Ole Gunnar took over from Mourinho and the second in all matches out of the last 18 that they have played.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has suggested Manchester United’s defeat to Arsenal could have been a hangover from their famous Champions League victory over Paris Saint Germain.
United managed to pull off a sensational 3-1 win at the Parc des Princes to turn a 2-0 first-leg deficit on its head and qualify for the quarter-finals.
Marcus Rashford crashed in a last gasp penalty to see the Red Devils through.
The stars celebrated their improbable win in spectacular style and the comedown off the incredible high could have had a knock-on effect at the Emirates. Granit Xhaka opened the scoring for the Gunners as he swerved a long-range shot past a wrong-footed David de Gea.
Pierre Emerick Aubameyang doubled the hosts’ lead from the penalty spot after Fred had fouled Alexandre Lacazette.
Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer told Sky Sports: “We started slowly, maybe a backlash from Wednesday night, but we created chances and when they get the first goal it becomes a different game.
“We created so many more chances today than when we beat them in the FA Cup. Sometimes it happens, we hit the woodwork twice and had five very big chances ourselves. The referee will be disappointed when he sees it as I don’t think it is a penalty.
“We just had to go for it towards the end, but we were not really at it and it is one of those days where you have to dust yourselves down from. We have Wolves in the cup quarter-finals and it’s a big game to look forward to.”
Solskjaer also gave his thoughts on De Gea’s mistake for Xhaka’s goal.
“David (de Gea) is disappointed every time he concedes a goal,” Solskjaer said. “The ball moves so strange and it looks like it goes to David’s left and it changed direction, but in the first 15, 20 minutes we were too slow and never put them under pressure.