Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has played down concerns over Manchester United’s prowess from the penalty spot after a second miss from 12 yards in two games cost them again against Crystal Palace.

Marcus Rashford hit the post on Saturday with his team down 1-0 against the Eagles. Daniel James equalised at Old Trafford, before a Patrick van Aanholt goal in stoppage time stole ensured Palace took all three points back to South London.

Paul Pogba saw his penalty saved in a 1-1 draw with Wolves on Monda y, after taking the ball from Rashford, who had converted a spot kick in United’s 4-0 win over Chelsea to open the season.

Solskjaer said that continuing to put themselves in good positions would yield results in the end.

‘Two games, two missed penalties. It’s part and parcel of it,’ the Norwegian told the BBC after the game.

‘Sometimes it happens. I have missed a few myself. If we score them it’s a different story.

‘If we keep putting ourselves in those positions we will get more penalties and we will score. It is just one of those things. We trust them to score again.’

United bossed the game, having 22 shots to Palace’s five, but each club mustered three on target.

Palace’s opening goal came from their first shot after Jordan Ayew pounced on error by Victor Lindelhof.

Solskjaer lamented his team’s profligacy, and also the errors that led to the Eagles strikes.

Goalkeeper David De Gea will feel he could have done better with Van Aanholt’s winner.

‘They scored two and we scored only one,’ he added
 
‘We just were not clinical enough in front of goal and they scored two very easy goals. I thought we got our act together second half, we just couldn’t hit the target.

‘We have dominated the game but we have not controlled it.

‘We should have dealt with the last five minutes better. We defended poorly at times today and it cost us. Sometimes you do not find that end product and that happened today.

‘We did not test their keeper enough. It cost us dearly today.’