Ruben: Magic happened in Fergie time

Ruben: Magic happened in Fergie time

Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim appreciated the magnitude of the victory at Manchester City, but was keen to stress there is still much work to be done.

The Reds trailed to Josko Gvardiol’s first-half header but, as the game wore on, we grew stronger and stronger, eventually drawing level with Bruno Fernandes’s penalty.

A couple of minutes later, Amad completed the turnaround with a piece of individual brilliance after being found by Lisandro Martinez’s superb pass.

The players celebrated with the away end at the Etihad Stadium, after heaping more misery on the champions, and this is a selection of what the boss had to say to the official broadcasters afterwards…

SOMETHING MAGICAL HAPPENED

“I think we deserved it. It was a very tough match but we believe until the end. We managed to score, we needed that win, it was important for us and for our fans. We were in the game for 90 minutes and that is very good. We talk about the Arsenal game, we played well in the first half, but they were not believing that we could win. Today was so much more different. I also believe. Then we have Fergie time and we put the things together and something magic happened. It was a good day for us.”

IT WAS COMING

“You can feel we were near to scoring. We improved our speed, when we make our runs and we had some opportunities. We controlled very well [Erling] Haaland and the other guys in the offence of City. In the end, when we scored the first one, you can feel it in the team, they want it more. You feel like we still have minutes and we have the momentum. Congratulations to the lads.”

THE FANS’ BACKING

“I think, for everyone, it’s just three points. We have a lot to do but it was massive for our fans. The fans are from here, it’s different and they feel our club need to win these kind of matches. You can see they were singing until the 85th minute [anyway], maybe our conversation would be so much different without the two goals but their performance would be the same. They did a very good job. I understand the happiness of our fans but it is just three points. I think we deserved this win.”

FEET ON THE GROUND

“Of course it’s really important but this game is finished. I remember, one week ago, the storm. We were 3-1 down to Nottingham Forest at home and that feeling, I’ll always keep that feeling for these days and not getting carried away. It’s three points we needed a lot, this team needs it a lot and we did a great game. But we were talking, before Arsenal, about top four and then lose to Nottingham Forest and everything was wrong. We managed to win another two games and the perception will change, of all the people and all the fans. We have to focus on the next game and doing our job.”

AMAD IMPRESSING

“He is very humble and that is very important. Let’s continue but we have to be careful. In our club, we put our kids too soon in the special place. Let’s calm Amad down and all the team continue the job. I said already, his work with Erik [ten Hag] and Ruud [van Nistelrooy], bring him doing a great job and he continues that job. He can play both positions and, in this kind of game, his ability to run with the ball is really important. But all the players fit in my system. If they want, they are very talented players in our squad who can fit in this system.”

TEAM EFFORT

“The players believed they could win this game today and were really focused on the strategy. But we have to give all the credit to the players. They changed everything today and this win is just from the players. I like the way the squad was, even the guys on the bench, but I don’t want to talk about individuals. Amad was really important for us, of course, but all the team played well and that is important for us too. This is a team sport and, if you believe, work hard and sacrifice for each other, you can achieve things.”

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