Thursday 27 December 2018 06:22, UK
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hailed the impact of Paul Pogba and David de Gea after his Manchester United side beat Huddersfield 3-1 on Boxing Day.
Having already overseen victory in his first game as United manager last week at Cardiff - the first time United had scored five goals since the Sir Alex Ferguson's last game in charge - a double from Paul Pogba helped United to a second win in a week in Solskjaer's first home match since becoming interim coach at Old Trafford.
Pogba's improvement earned him special praise from Solskjaer, who also highlighted how a save from De Gea when the score was 1-0 in the second half was as crucial a contribution.
"It wasn't the best of games," Solskjaer told Sky Sports. "We were a bit slow for the first 20 minutes but they settled in and we scored some excellent goals.
"That (De Gea save) was the defining moment of the game. It was one of the best saves I have ever seen. That was a big big moment for us.
"He (Pogba) has got the attributes for scoring, and got a few assists last game. I was very pleased for him today. Paul is the same, he loves football and loves to go forward he has a big, big smile, and I have enjoyed working with him."
Get Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Football for just £18 a month
Back-to-back wins has enabled United to close the gap on the top four, and with some fixtures against teams in the bottom half of the table to come in the coming weeks, Solskjaer has indicated the importance of keeping the momentum going.
"The next two games against Bournemouth and Newcastle will be absolutely massive for us," Solskjaer added. "The lads need to recover now, settle our heads. This was always going to be an emotional day. The crowd were up and expectations were high but we dealt with it fine.
"The fans are fantastic here. I dreamt about a more exhilarating game and creating more chances, but we did enough.
"I am hoping to have (Anthony) Martial, (Romelu) Lukaku and even Alexis back next week. It is a great thing for us coaches, knowing that you score three goals and have three players like that coming back."
