LONDON: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer knows how badly he’s doing at Manchester United. However, the manager can’t seem to find any solutions.

“When you’re at Man United there’s always going to be criticism,” Solskjaer said after a 2-0 loss to Burnley on Wednesday. “We can’t do anything but hold our hands up and say, ‘This isn’t good enough for this club’.”

United’s first loss to Burnley at Old Trafford since 1962 came on the back of Sunday’s defeat at Liverpool and left the club in fifth place, six points from the Champions League places.

United seemed helpless as Chris Wood and Jay Rodriguez scored either side of halftime.

Burnley took the lead six minutes before half-time as Ben Mee jumped highest in the area to nod the ball down for Wood to apply a first-time finish. And the visitors doubled their lead in stunning fashion in the second period as Rodriguez rifled a ferocious strike off the underside of the bar from just inside the area.

“The boys have given everything they’ve got,” Solskjaer said on BT Sport television. “They are experiencing this period for the first time in their lives, some of them. It’s very, very difficult for them. The expectations of this club as well are high, and some of them have played 10, 12 or 15 games and it’s not easy for them. Of course I’m going to back them. I’m going to be here to help them get through this.”

That might not be up to Solskjaer, though, after a night when fans turned on the owning Glazer family with abusive chants.

“Stand up if you hate Glazers,” was one of the milder chants against the Americans, who have owned the club since 2005.

Solskjaer was brought in by United to succeed Jose Mourinho in December 2018 seemingly on the basis of being a former title-winning player under Alex Ferguson. His managerial experience in the Premier League amounted to being relegated with Cardiff City in 2014.

United rushed into handing Solskjaer a permanent contract in March 2019 despite no risk of losing the coach. Since then, he has lost 12 Premier League matches and won 11.

“We’re fifth in the table, but of course we work every day with these boys to improve and get us performing better than this,” Solskjaer said. “We’re looking to improve, definitely.”

Tottenham Hotspur moved level on points with United after ending a four-match winless run in the Premier League with a 2-1 victory over Norwich City.

Tottenham took the lead in the 38th minute, with Dele Alli netting the team’s first goal since December 26 in the league.

Last-placed Norwich leveled in the 70th through Teemu Pukki’s penalty after Ryan Sessegnon clipped Max Aarons but Son Heung-min headed in Alli’s deflected cross in the 79th minute to seal the win.

Elsewhere, Ayoze Perez scored twice as third placed Leicester City ended their two-match winless league run with a 4-1 victory over West Ham United that was marred by an injury to their leading scorer Jamie Vardy.

Vardy limped off just before half-time at the King Power Stadium with his side 1-0 ahead thanks to Harvey Barnes’ 24th-minute opener, with the winger then setting up Ricardo Pereira to fire home the second in added time.

West Ham were given a route back into the match five minutes after the interval when Wilfred Ndidi was adjudged to have bundled Sebastien Haller over in the area and Mark Noble scored from the penalty spot.

However, Leicester were given a debatable penalty of their own when Kelechi Iheanacho was deemed to have been brought down by Angelo Ogbonna and Perez made no mistake from 12 yards.

The former Newcastle player then swept home his side’s final goal of the night to lift them back within three points of second-placed Manchester City.

Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2020