Cavani and Van de Beek making progress – Solskjaer

James Shearman

• Updated: 23 May 2023 08:47 CDT
• 2 min read

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has praised summer signings Edinson Cavani and Donny van de Beek after their 4-1 victory against Istanbul Basaksehir in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Both Cavani and Van de Beek played the full 90 minutes at Old Trafford, with goals from Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford and Daniel James all but securing their progression into the knockout rounds.

The Uruguayan forward worked tirelessly in the final third, contributing heavily to the team despite not getting on the scoresheet.

Likewise, Van de Beek impressed in the centre of the pitch with his work ethic and distribution.

The result made it three straight victories in all competitions for the Red Devils.

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Solskjaer was asked about the summer signings in his post-match interview and stressed that both are beginning to get more comfortable in the side.

“The two are getting used to how we want them to play – Donny can play in different positions and Edinson is a good old fashioned number nine and we haven’t had that for a while and I was happy with how Anthony [Martial] played off the left,” Solskjaer told BT Sport.

“I felt first half we saw the intent straight away, they wanted to play and they enjoyed it. It’s a Champions League night at Old Trafford, you’d expect them to enjoy themselves. We scored some very nice goals, I’m pleased.

“We need one point, but of course we want to be top of the group but we’ll take it one game at a time.”

United fans had been critical of Solskjaer’s team selections this season as Van De Beek, in particular, had impressed off the bench but failed to earn a regular place in the starting eleven.

Cavani entered the fray in slightly different circumstances, having not played since March.

The veteran forward had, understandably, taken weeks to build his match fitness but looks to have gathered momentum in his return to prolific attacking play.  

Manchester United travel to St Mary’s to face Southampton, with Ralph Hasenhuttl’s sitting in fifth place in the Premier League table, on a seven-game unbeaten run.