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Solskjaer retains magic touch at Man U

Published:Wednesday | January 2, 2019 | 12:00 AM
AP
Manchester United's Romelu Lukaku (left) celebrates with teammates Ander Herrera (centre) and Alexis Sanchez after scoring his side's first goal against Newcastle United during a Premier League match at St James' Park yesterday.

MANCHESTER, England (AP):

With Manchester United still scoreless after an hour at Newcastle, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was facing the first real challenge of his interim tenure at England's biggest club.

His response showed that he just might have the same magic touch as a United manager that he had as a player.

 

Double substitution

 

Solskjaer sent on Romelu Lukaku as part of a double substitution in the 63rd minute, and 38 seconds later, the striker scored to set United on their way to a 2-0 win at St James' Park yesterday.

That is four straight victories for Solskjaer since replacing Jose Mourinho last month among previous United managers, only the great Matt Busby achieved that feat in their first four matches and 14 goals scored.

Even better for United, fourth-place Chelsea could only draw 0-0 at home to Southampton at Stamford Bridge to leave only six points between the teams in the race for a top-four finish and Champions League qualification.

United moved to within three points of fifth-place Arsenal, too. The team has truly been revived by its former striker.

Solskjaer also appears to be getting the best out of young United striker Marcus Rashford, who added the second goal against Newcastle to make it three in four games under the new coach.