Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has praised Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy for his performance in Saturday’s goalless draw with Manchester United, even dubbing him the ‘match winner’.
In a tight and hard-fought game at Old Trafford, neither team produced many chances – though Chelsea felt they should have been awarded a penalty when Harry Maguire practically put Cesar Azpilicueta in a headlock on a corner.
At the other end, United had two big chances through Marcus Rashford but on each occasion Chelsea’s summer signing Mendy was on hand to keep the ball out of the goal.
Solskjaer felt his side narrowly edged the contest and hailed Senegalese shot-stopper Mendy as the man of the match, feeling United would have got all three points but for the goalkeeper.
‘Two good teams, quality in either end of the pitch. You can see their keeper today, I think he’s the match winner,’ Solskjaer told MUTV after the game.
‘Two fantastic saves from Marcus. The one in the second half, an unbelievable save, I’m standing just behind it and following it to the top corner. Great finish, great save.
‘The first one was well blocked with his right foot. So I think it’s an even game. I think we started a bit slow and didn’t really put our authority on the game, but after about 20/25 minutes I felt we took over and built pressure.
‘And I’m sure if that Stretford End was full it’s going to be a magic night, as it is so many times in this stadium, because they suck that ball into the goal and we just missed that edge today.’
He added: ‘I’ve just got to praise the keeper, because them two saves are fantastic.’
Frank Lampard was equally glowing about Mendy, saying: ‘His performance was very good you rely on your goalkeeper for those moments it was a tight game.
‘It wasn’t full of many chances, there was the Rashford chance in the first half at first it was a mistake from us and a moment of quality from him at the end.
‘He showed what he’s there for. We bought him in because we knew he was quality, he’s shown great composure in the games he’s played already and I’m delighted with the saves today because in a tight game you rely on that moment and wins us a point.’
