Why Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes De Gea did not make a mistake against Arsenal

Finally, Manchester United’s unbeaten run has aborted in the hands of London based Arsenal with a early strike from their mid Xhaka which found United’s keeper unawares and on the wrong side of his area concding one of his worst goals in the season.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer refused to blame David de Gea for Granit Xhaka’s winner after Arsenal inflicted a first Premier League defeat on Manchester United since December 16.

Xhaka’s speculative 12th-minute effort from outside the area flummoxed De Gea, who moved to his left as the ball veered in the other direction. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s 69th-minute penalty clinched a 2-0 victory three points to elevate Arsenal back up to fourth and above United.

De Gea is still yet to commit his long-term future to United amid unexpectedly protracted negotiations, complicated by his agent Jorge Mendes’ representation of former United manager Jose Mourinho, as well as Alexis Sanchez’s salary. De Gea committed uncharacteristic errors amid speculation over his United future as the club attempted to tie him down four years ago, but Solskjaer dismissed the suggestion the Spaniard lacked focus at The Emirates Stadium.

“I don’t class it as a mistake,” Solskjaer stressed. “Because I’m stood right behind the ball, we don’t put pressure on Xhaka. He must be Brazilian, by the way. Because of the way he struck the ball and it swirls and it moves in the air, it goes to David’s left and changes direction completely. That’s just one of those things.

“He’s disappointed every time he concedes a goal because he is a top keeper. The ball moves so strange it looks like it goes to his left and changes direction, but we were too slow to get up to them. The first 15or 20 minutes, we never really got up to them and he had time to hit the ball.”

When asked whether De Gea’s contract situation had impaired his focus, Solskjaer replied: “Not at all, David’s really focused and concentrated he’s too professional to let his mind wander. the best players know how to focus and he’s been absolutely fantastic.”

Solskjaer was still cheerful at his post-match briefing, where he was greeted by Arsenal great Tony Adams shortly before he spoke to the media. Solskjaer’s former teammate Henning Berg analysed the United game for Norwegian television and described United’s performance as ‘one of their best games’ under Solskjaer.

“Well, he’s got a good point,” Solskjaer noted. “It’s not very often you go to Arsenal and create, say, four or five big chances like we did and they never had one, they had a strike and got a penalty, so they didn’t create too many chances.

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