Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has hailed the defensive focus of his Manchester United side in their 3-1 victory against Crystal Palace on Wednesday night.

The win keeps Solskjaer’s side in the top four race. They now sit in fifth, but only one point off Arsenal.

Romelu Lukaku scored twice and Ashley Young once in a hard-fought victory for the Reds in which they had to sit deep against Palace’s intermittently potent attack at times.

The Norwegian United boss was delighted with how his players stayed focused to notch an eighth consecutive victory away from home, setting a club record.

No complacency from United

“[It was] a great win and a great result. Three points at Selhurst Park is never a given,” Solskjaer told reporters post-match. “The key today was a good start and taking control of the game and I thought we did that.

“The focus on defending was great. The team were so focused today. There was no complacency.”

The 46-year-old, who celebrated his birthday on Tuesday, admitted that he had some fears coming into the game about complacency and revealed that he warned his players against it before kick-off.

United put in so much in last 2 weeks

“I knew this game would be difficult - a game we are expected to win - after all the mental focus [we needed] for games against PSG, Chelsea and Liverpool,” Solskjaer explained.

United now face Southampton at Old Trafford on Saturday in a rare 3PM kick-off for the side.

Marcus Rashford made an appearance off the bench at Selhurst Park on Wednesday night and so will likely be available for Saturday but Solskjaer will still be without Lingard, Mata, Matic, Herrera and possible Martial, too.

Four academy players traveled with the first team to London in midweek and the same may be true at the weekend.

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