Goal 'so unlike us' - Davies, Dele and Winks on United

There was certainly a feeling of 'what might have been' as the players trudged out of Old Trafford on Saturday.

A high-intensity encounter between the teams placed second and third in the Premier League was settled by the small details.

You felt one goal might win it and our chance arrived on 75 minutes when Christian Eriksen picked out Dele Alli's run only for the midfielder to steer the ball wide from close range.

United won it five minutes later with a goal Ben Davies described as 'so unlike us'. David De Gea cleared long, Romelu Lukaku flicked on and Anthony Martial got in behind to guide the ball past Hugo Lloris.

A good performance went unrewarded and the disappointment was palpable afterwards.

Here's what Ben, Harry Winks and Dele had to say...

Below: Ben on the ball

Ben Davies

On the match...
"It’s not an easy place to come, Old Trafford. They have a good home record, don’t concede many goals and make it tough for you. I thought we stood up to the battle and that’s what it was, especially in the first half. You have to earn the right to play, we did that and in the second half we had a lot of the ball."

On United's goal...
"That goal is so unlike us, we don’t really concede sloppy goals like that and they didn’t have to do anything special to break us down, that’s the disappointing thing. We felt at 0-0 we weren’t really threatened at all and it was disappointing to concede the goal in the way we did and come away with nothing. It didn’t go our way and it’s about putting it right in the next game."

Below: Harry at Old Trafford

Harry Winks

On the game...
"It’s frustrating. We’re disappointed in the manner we conceded, a long ball from the goalkeeper. I thought we were excellent and defended so well, it’s just one lapse of concentration. We defended so well but against teams like Manchester United you can’t switch off. We fought well and to lose like we did is not good."

On his own performance...
"I’m pleased on a personal note but ultimately it’s all about winning and getting the three points. It’s a game I felt we could have won and when you lose the way we did it’s tough to take."

Below: Dele goes close

Dele Alli

Overall thoughts...
"The goal came against the run of play but they are dangerous on the counter-attack. As a team we’re disappointed with the goal we conceded, it was a sloppy goal to concede. We’re disappointed to lose the game but it’s important we pick ourselves up. We felt we should have won really and to go to United and think you should have won shows where we are as a team. It’s important
now we keep going, believe in ourselves and make sure we keep winning games."