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Man Utd boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer explains Edinson Cavani mentality after Everton win
Manchester United star Edinson Cavani scored his first goal for the club in their 3-1 Premier League win over Everton on Saturday.
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Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has hailed Edinson Cavani after his goal against Everton on Saturday. The Uruguay international found the net for the Red Devils to complete a fine comeback at Goodison Park. And the Norwegian was delighted after the match on Merseyside.
Manchester United survived an early scare to beat Everton.
The Toffees took the lead in the first half through Bernard, who opened the scoring with a low strike that sailed past David De Gea.
United then responded with a quick brace from Bruno Fernandes, with his second goal evading Marcus Rashford and gliding past Jordan Pickford into the net.
And, late on, Cavani got in on the act.
The 33-year-old slotted past Pickford from close range after good work from Fernandes, who declined the chance to score a hat-trick.
And Solskjaer, speaking to MUTV after the game, insisted Cavani was ‘ready to kick on’ after his goal at Goodison Park.
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“Hopefully, he’s getting better and better and sharper and sharper,” said the 47-year-old.
“Today, it was just trying to finish the game off, because we played well. It's great for him to get his first goal. That's a weight off his shoulders and now he's just ready to kick on.”
Solskjaer admitted he was hoping for more victories like this, with United hugely inconsistent during his tenure.
“If we can get this determination, mindset, approach every single game, we'll be hard to play against,” he said.
“You see all the tackles that Scott and Fred were winning in the middle there, we're tight, we're compact, we win the ball, we play, we've got spaces, that's how we want to see these boys. So we're very pleased with that.
”I can’t praise the boys enough for the character that they’ve shown.
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“I didn't want to do it [talk about the schedule] before the game, because I don't want to start giving them excuses before but after, you have to have some common sense to let these boys showcase what they're really about.
“I thought we saw that at times today but to get this product better, fixture scheduling has to be better.“
Fernandes was delighted for Cavani after the match.
The 26-year-old said: “I think strikers need to score and have the confidence. A striker is confident when he scores. For [Cavani] it’s really important.
“Everyone knows Edi is a striker who’s done everything in the world of football. He really helps a lot and it will be much better for him after this first goal.”
Fernandes also revealed United players had rallied after the Istanbul Basaksehir defeat on Wednesday night, talking over their differences and putting things behind them against Everton.
“It was difficult but before the game we spoke and said we need to be positive,” said the Portuguese maestro.
“We scored a goal, did the right things and the result came.
“The intensity and right mindset was there. We scored the third goal because we believe and I think we defended really well today.
“Last goal if you see, H [Harry Maguire] doesn’t come out to do the tackle, I don’t come out with Edi [Cavani] to score the goal.
“So everyone needs to help. I think today was a team performance.”
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