UNITED COAST AT BRIGHTON THANKS TO SPECIAL BRU!
BRUNO RELISHING POGBA LINK-UP BUT SAYS IT ONLY WORKS BECAUSE OF A BIG TEAM EFFORT FROM UNITED
BRUNO Fernandes is confident he can form a fine midfield partnership with Paul Pogba at United after they combined for a goal for the first time in the 3-0 win at Brighton.
Pogba set Fernandes up for the Reds’ second in their stroll against the Seagulls and in only their second start together they were both outstanding at the Amex.
The Portuguese playmaker netted twice in the win to continue his remarkable start to life at the club and his partnership with the French World Cup winner is already beginning to flourish, but Fernandes insists to focus on just those two is unfair to the rest of the midfield.
“Paul is an amazing player but I don’t want to talk too much about me and Paul because it’s not fair on the other team-mates. I think Paul thinks the same way. We’re really happy to play together but I’m happy to play with everyone,” he said.
“Paul has such good qualities and we know he’s so important for us, I think we can combine together, we have qualities and we can play together, but we know we have some team-mates who can do very well when we’re out.
“Fred and Scotty [McTominay] did an amazing job before the season stopped, Nemanja [Matic] is a guy who’s doing very well and we have Andreas [Pereira], Jesse [Lingard] and Juan [Mata] who can play No. 10 and have such good qualities, they can do a lot for the team.
“We are a team, they push us to do better, it’s about teamwork.”
Fernandes has now been involved in 10 goals in 13 games since signing for United after his double at Brighton. He had hit the post before scoring his first, via a deflection, but his second goal rounded off a scintillating United counter-attack.
Harry Maguire cleared to Matic with a header, before the Serbian’s hooked pass sent Mason Greenwood clear. He broke down the left before finding a cross to Fernandes to volley home.
“The first goal was lucky but the keeper was lucky with my first shot that hit the post. I’m happy,” said Fernandes.
“There was a good job from Paul in the first goal, the ball came back to me, he knows I will be there, the second goal was amazing with Mason’s pass.
“I’m happy for my goals but I’m more happy for the result, we’re fighting to be in the Champions League and we know we can achieve that.”
United are now fifth and looking good for a Champions League spot. But for boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, that’s not something necessarily to celebrate.
He said: “We’re too far to be on the road to something special, because special for this club is not where we are.
“But the team is improving, we’re in with a shout for the Champions League next year and we still have the FA Cup and Europa League to play. The team is improving, the players are coming back and the style is better.
“We can play against different types of teams now, we know we have pace on the counter and when the space is there, we have more players and we are better at dominating teams.”