Man Utd boss Solskjaer: Crystal Palace showed how far behind we are | OneFootball

Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admits they're behind schedule after a dismal opening day home defeat to Crystal Palace.

Roy Hodgson's men looked fitter from the start and took a first-half lead through Andros Townsend, before Wilf Zaha made it 2-0 from the penalty spot after a controversial VAR decision. Donny van de Beek scored on his debut soon after, but any hope of a comeback was ended by Zaha's second.

Solskjaer said, “I am very disappointed. I think it shows that we are short. We are short in game-time, fitness, sharpness and we need to improve quickly. These were three points that we wanted and we needed. There are 37 games to go, but this is a wake-up call. But it is also something that we knew we had to face when we went so far into Europe. We had a short preparation time, but that is the reality so there are no excuses."

On Van de Beek, he continued: "Yeah, he has a great attitude and energy, one of the better ones I know for finding space and sniffing out space. We need that because when we got round them - not often enough - and put crosses in, there were not enough bodies in the box and he gave us that."