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A lesson 'learned' for United's young boys, says Solskjaer after Sheffield draw

Cape Town - Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes his Manchester United youngsters learned a few important lessons in the draw at Sheffield United on Sunday.

The Reds were abysmal in the first-half at Bramall Lane and were fortunate to only be behind to John Fleck's strike.

Solskjaer admitted he was angry at half-time and his mood would not have improved when Lys Mousset doubled the hosts' lead early in the second-half.

However, the Norwegian took some comfort from a sparkling seven-minute spell his side produced to turn the game on its head as goals from Brandon Williams, Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford had the Reds in front with 79 minutes on the clock.

Solskjaer was denied a sixth victory in the last seven matches by Oliver McBurnie's last-minute equaliser, but he believes he and his players can take some positives from the 3-3 draw.

The Reds boss compared the first-half performance to the one against Everton last season when they were thumped 4-0 at Goodison Park.

On that occasion, Solskjaer says they gave up, but the same could not be said on this occasion as the youngsters dragged them back into it, and almost snatched all three points.

That would have been harsh on Sheffield United, but Solskjaer was encouraged by the way his side got back into the game after admitting he had to give them a blast and wake-up call at half-time.

"The boys will have learned a lesson from the 71st minute to the 90th, or whenever they scored. You must remember that these players are young. The first goal gave them belief," Solskjaer said.

"They've come through the academy most of these boys and in the academy, you don't play in these kinds of games, despite trying to teach them to play without fear, and they will have learned a lot in this 90-odd minutes - so there will be some pluses as well."

United are back in action away to Astana in a Europa League encounter.

Kick-off is at 17:55 (SA time).

- TeamTalk Media

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