Comparing Greenwood with Rooney, Ronaldo won’t be fair — Solksjaer

Manchester, July 5 (IANS): Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was all-praise for striker Mason Greenwood after the 18-year-old’s brace helped them to a 5-2 win over Bournemouth in the Premier League.

The win lifted United momentarily to fourth place before Chelsea reclaimed the spot with a 3-0 win over Watford.

“I have seen Wayne Rooney at the same age and Mason is a specialist finisher and specialist goal-scorer… He knows exactly what to do with the ball when he’s on the pitch,” Solskjaer told reporters after the match on Saturday.

Solksjaer said that it was too soon to compare Greenwood to the likes of Rooney or Cristiano Ronaldo, both of whom arrived at Old Trafford when Solskjaer’s career as a player at Old Trafford was reaching its twilight years.

“If he shoots, he’ll score. He’s going to get better and his general play has improved. I don’t want to compare him to Rooney or Ronaldo, as that’s not fair, and he’ll create his own career. He’s doing it his own way.”

“Both of those have had fantastic careers, and I’m sure if Mason keeps on doing the right things and making good decisions, he will have a fantastic career. It’s Mason’s first season, but we’ve always known there’s a special kid there.”

Bournemouth had scored first with Junior Stanislas in the 16th minute. Greenwood then equalised for United in the 29th minute before they took the lead with a 35th minute penalty converted by Marcus Rashford. Anthony Martial then scored in injury time of the first half. Bournemouth put United under pressure in the early stages of the second half and a handball from Eric Bailly led to a penalty which Josh King converted. It was however all United after that as Solksjaer’s men hit the Bournemouth defence with wave after wave of attacks. In-form midfielder Bruno Fernandes scored from a free kick in the 59th minute for United’s fifth of the night.