Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Matic feels Man United deserve to be top dogs
NEMANJA Matic believes Manchester United showed their title credentials by beating Burnley to top the Premier League on merit heading into Sunday’s clash at rivals Liverpool.
Paul Pogba’s second-half volley fired Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s everimproving side to their ninth win of an impressive 11-match unbeaten league run, with Tuesday’s 1-0 victory propelling them above Jurgen Klopp’s reigning champions.
United had to dig deep, remain patient and regain their composure after frustration threatened to bubble over at the end of the first half to win at Turf Moor,
Victory saw them go top at this stage of the season for the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson’s victorious farewell 2012-13 season.
“I think this kind of win shows we are ready to compete for (the) title,” said Matic, a two-time Premier League winner with Chelsea.
“Sometimes (in the past) we looked like a team who wants to score as soon as possible, then we get panicked.
“I think today we showed more maturity, we showed that we are more clever and on this pitch here, in this stadium against Burnley, it’s always hard to win the games.
“Not to concede a goal from the long balls, set-pieces, so we prepared the game well and I think we deserved these three points.
“In our team we have lots of quality and in these kind of games you have to use that.
“You have to be patient, not to panic, because when you have that much quality during 90 minutes one situation will decide (the game) and it was exactly what we did.
“I’m happy. I’m happy for the team, for the team performance, for our team spirit and let’s see Sunday against Liverpool.
“It’s the biggest derby in England. We go there to compete with them, to see where we are (against) one of the best teams in the league, so I think that we are ready.”
United head to Anfield on Sunday boasting a three-point cushion over their nearest rivals – a far cry from the 30-point gap that Klopp’s men opened up over the Red Devils when they last met in January 2020.
Solskjaer has understandably downplayed the importance of going top at this stage, but Matic believes they deserve to be top of the pile.
“We played 17 games, we are top of the table, so that shows something,” he said.
“We didn’t play five or six games and you’re top, then you can say ‘maybe it’s lucky’.
“But after 17 games definitely it’s not lucky. Definitely there is a quality.”
Meanwhile, Manchester United defender Timothy Fosu-Mensah has joined Bundesliga outfit Bayer Leverkusen for £1.75 million.
The 23-year-old left the Ajax youth set-up to link up with the Red Devils in 2014 and went on to play 30 times in all competitions for the first team.