Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has expressed his disappointment after playing the 1-1 draw against Tottenham Hotspur and said that the way his team performed they deserved “more than one point” on Friday in their first game since the return of Premier League on Wednesday.

“I’m disappointed, to be fair. I think the performance deserves more than one point. I can’t remember them threatening us in the second half. Not too much in the first half either. They get a goal out of more or less nothing and they have a good chance after. David makes a good save from Son’s header, but apart from that it was only a matter of time before we scored,” Solskjaer was quoted as saying on the official website of Manchester United.

“We need to be more clinical, but then again if you look back to last season when we played Tottenham and won 1-0, you came off delighted because we got three points but the performance wasn’t close to this one. This was a dominant performance and I think we showed in the second half that we can play against teams that defend deep and create chances,” he added.

While United started the game on the front foot, controlling the ball more and creating a greater number of chances, Spurs took the lead in 27th minute at their backyard.

It was a lackadaisical challenge from Marcus Rashford that paved the way for a counter-attack and allowed Steven Bergwijn to smash the ball past David de Gea.

The first half then did not yield further breakthrough but the urgency in United’s approach was visible right from the word go in the second half.

Solskjaer revealed that he had asked his players to play quicker and press more aggressively during the break. “The first half was too slow and it seemed like the players had some doubt in their heads about fitness, about quality, getting going again, playing in this atmosphere, but trust yourselves,” he said.

He added, “Play quicker, one touch less, a split-second less on the ball, harder passes, harder runs, harder pressing and just trust yourselves and that was the message.”

The game, though, changed the course with the introduction of Paul Pogba in the 63rd minute. With him on the field, the Red Devils looked a more competent force than the home team.

The French World Cup winner’s efforts finally paid dividends when he was bundled off the ball by Eric Dier inside the Spurs’ box to hand United a penalty in the 80th minute. Bruno Fernandes, the Portugal international, did not make any mistake to fool Spurs goalie Lloris and score the third penalty since his arrival at the Old Trafford.

“Of course Paul’s contribution is there to be seen. He played the pass of the day when he played Marcus through and he had the skill of the day when he was fouled for the penalty. Paul is one of the best players in the world and it’s great to have him back. It’s good to give him minutes and he’ll work hard to get even fitter for next time and play more,” Solskjaer added.