Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has sent a message to his teammates, calling for more consistent performances, following their FA Cup third-round victory over Arsenal.
United booked their spot in the next stage of the competition in dramatic style. Fernandes opened the scoring seven minutes after the break as he thumped in an easy ball from Alejandro Garnacho.
Momentum then turned after Diogo Dalot was sent off for two bookable offences, with Gabriel Magalhaes equalising for the hosts moments after. Martin Odegaard’s controversial penalty was then saved by Altay Bayindir, who played a key role in the resultant shootout.
Bayindir also denied Kai Havertz from the spot-kick before Joshua Zirkzee scored the winning penalty to send United through to the fourth round.
It was another brilliant performance from Fernandes, who led the team by example.
After the final whistle, the Portugal international spoke to BBC One and said, “Obviously the circumstances of the game we played with one less we suffered a lot but we sacrificed a lot as a team and at the end you get this.”
On Altay Bayindir’s display, Fernandes remarked, “It’s a big moment for him, the first penalty and another save here and we are really happy for him.”
“It’s tough to be second goalkeeper, he came here to play, whenever he gets his chance he’s top class for us, he’s top class in training, he’s always available for everyone and he truly deserves this moment.”
Fernandes emphasised that going forward, United must be more consistent.
“I know we want to celebrate and everything but our focus is now Southampton, that is when we have to back it up. The big games against Liverpool, Arsenal, everyone steps up because it’s a big game.”
“You want to be in these kinds of games, you want to be involved, you want to be the best but we have to do it in Old Trafford with these fans again.”
“We have to give it back for the club. We need to do it every week, every game.”
United vs. Southampton will take place on Thursday. Kick-off is at 20:00 GMT.
Featured image Alex Pantling via Getty Images
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Derick Kinoti
Derick Kinoti is a football writer at The Peoples Person who has covered Manchester United and the game extensively for many years. He is a keen analyst with expertise in SEO and journalism standards. Derick is convinced Wayne Rooney is the true GOAT and won’t hear otherwise!
