Man Utd’s draw at home to Fulham a “wake-up call” – Solskjaer

Manchester United’s Premier League draw against relegated Fulham will be a “wake-up call” before next week’s Europa League final against Villarreal, says manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Edinson Cavani welcomed the return of fans back to the Premier League with a brilliant 40-yard lobbed goal, but United were unable to mark the occasion with a victory as Fulham came back to draw at Old Trafford

Aside from a handful of games at a lucky few clubs in December, supporters have been absent from top-flight league football since 9 March 2020.

No supporters have seen a goal at Old Trafford since Scott McTominay’s inspired second in United’s Manchester derby win over City the day before.

There were only 10,000 present to see Cavani’s inspired effort, but what a noise they made as the Uruguayan strode onto a long ball downfield from David de Gea, which VAR felt touched Bruno Fernandes on the way through, before lifting the ball over Alphonso Areola with a perfectly executed finish that floated into the net.

For a long time it looked like being the winner, until Joe Bryan was allowed to ghost in at the far post unchallenged to convert Bobby Decordova-Reid’s deep cross from the right.

Solskjaer said: “I think it might be a wake-up call because we tried to do the fancy stuff – the flicks, the extraordinary things, the things that pleased the fans.

“That’s not what we’re about. We should be more efficient.

“Have a look at Cavani, have a look at how he plays the game. Every single one of us look at him.

“Back tackles, runs, scores – there’s no fluff. And we can’t have fluff in a game of football.”