Bruno Fernandes hails Manchester United teammates after match-winning performance at Brighton
Two goals for Fernandes heavily contributed to three points for United
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Your support makes all the difference.Bruno Fernandes acknowledged that his burgeoning relationship with Paul Pogba in midfield was great for Manchester United, but also pointed out the vital contributions of the other players in the side.
The Portuguese attacker has been superb since joining in January and netted a brace at the Amex Stadium to help defeat Brighton 3-0 on Tuesday night.
Pogba supplied his first goal and the duo were instrumental throughout, leading to questions after the game on how well and quickly they were combining.
“Paul is an amazing player but I don’t want to talk about us because it’s not fair on the team-mates,” he told Sky Sports.
“We think the same way and Paul has good qualities and we can combine together, but we also know we have good team-mates who can do very well when we are out or we play with another one [in midfield].
“Fred and Scotty [McTominay] did an amazing job before the [league] stop, Nemanja [Matic] is doing very well, Andreas [Pereira] and Jesse [Lingard] have good qualities and do a lot for the team.
“We are a team, we train together, they push us to do better and at the end it’s teamwork.”
Fernandes also hailed the defensive solidity of the team in keeping a clean sheet, pointing out David de Gea—who has come under criticism at times recently—made “two or three saves [which] were amazing”.
After United had to come through extra time in the FA Cup at the weekend, albeit against 10-man, bottom-of-the-table Norwich City, Fernandes was simply pleased that the side put in a good start at Brighton and were able to dictate the terms of the game early on.
He further reserved praise for Mason Greenwood’s part in United’s third goal, Fernandes’ second, and insisted United’s overarching goal for the season remained the Champions League spots.
“I was lucky in the first goal but the goalkeeper was also lucky with my first shot against the post!
“The second goal was amazing from Mason and I did a good shot. Of course I’m happy for goals, but more for the result.
“We are fighting for the place in the Champions League and we know we can achieve this.”
United are in fifth place after the win, level on points with sixth-place Wolves and two points behind Chelsea having played a game more.
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